Captive Wife

Ulf had a limited understanding of humans. Some of his knowledge had come from his father’s captive wives, Miele and Louise, from when he was a pup. He remembered they weren’t so different from his actual relatives —they ate the same food, slept at night, were awake during the day like they were, and had strength and fierceness in their own way.

To Ulf, they had been his second and third mothers, more nurturing and caring than his actual parents ever were. They never left during raids or war campaigns, being the ever-present figures to feed, teach and discipline the offspring of the hut. Yet, their pinkish and brown skin was very different from the purples and blues of the people they lived with. Both women were of plump complexion, one with dark hair like coal, and the other with brown hair like riverbank mud. They weren’t proper warriors, being too short and too weak to keep up, but they lived surrounded by them and possessed the will to thrive among them. Ulf remembered fearing them as much as he would fear any other adult.

Miele and Louise had led him to believe that most humans would be like them. Shorter and cuter versions of his people, without tusks or claws and cold-resistant skin, but just as brutish.

By the blood gods, he was wrong.

He was so disappointed when he learned the truth.

That same feeling overwhelmed him that afternoon, many years later, as he stared down at the sobbing woman beneath his knee. She wailed and clawed at the floor, but was otherwise paralyzed by sheer panic, incapable of defending herself or handling the consequences of her recklessness, of wandering alone into the trees, away from the road and the protection of her community. Inept in any fighting skills, without any endurance and power in her body, all she could do now was beg and cry like a child.

But Ulf had no compassion for stupidity. He grabbed the back of her black dress around the neckline and kept her in place to take his weight off of her. Then he pulled her up to better observe. She was covered from head to toe in many layers of fabric, so much so that even her hair was enclosed with a white scarf. The only skin she showed was her pink face swollen and distorted by fear and distress.

She seemed young, but not childish. Round cheeks, but sharp bones. The reddish lips quivered as her big blue eyes studied him. Not enough sunlight pierced through the branches to make anything in the forest shine, but still bright were the speckles in her tears. Ulf’s big, pale hand covered her mouth as the dread settled in her heart and made her scream. The sound died, muffled against his skin. He was in no hurry. He waited until she had exhausted her voice and body, going limp and dizzy in his arms after the anguish had run its course. Ulf couldn’t imagine what it was like to feel so powerless.

The woods seemed to grow quiet in response to her distress. No cries of insects, no chirps of birds. Only her whimpers echoed, seeming to make the woods tremble. Ulf felt like the forest, itself, watched him and waited for his decision.

“Listen to me, and pay attention.”

She sobbed, but seemed surprised he spoke her tongue, and that there was intelligence behind what should have been only a monster.

Ulf held her by her arms, turned her around, and bent her over his thigh. She was so soft and squishy that her body molded itself against his hard skin. He hushed her whimpers with a loud hiss, then pulled up the fabric of her skirt and the many layers of her petticoat until he found skin above her long socks. A long, thin branch came into his hand and Ulf moved it fast to strike. A line in her creamy colors that, in no time, became bright red.

She screamed. This time, he let her.

“These woods are now mine. If you speak of me to anyone, I’ll have them killed. Don’t test me. Don’t come back.”

The monster let her stand, but she didn’t have any actual strength in her legs to stay upright. He had hit her rear hard, and she stepped forward without balance, falling to her hands and knees before gathering herself enough to run away. Ulf didn’t watch. He had no stomach for weakness. Never had.

The first time Ulf traveled by himself, he was barely a grown individual. The clan already considered him well-trained and sent him south into the human kingdom of Sirien, following the old elven roads. For the first time, Ulf saw the villages and met humans the northern clans hadn’t reached. He found they were nothing like his foster mothers. They weren’t a society of strength, bravery, and coalition like Ulf’s clan was. Some among them could be called tough, but they were few, and rarely smartness accompanied their prowess. Ulf learned that the human warchiefs easily forgot the people in the outskirts of their countries, and those forsaken were left to take care and teach themselves, to waste their fates if they so desired. They kept the weak helpless, so they could prey upon their shortcomings.

Ulf spent years in Sirien, by himself, only twice traveling back north to bring his maps to his warchief. Each season, his contempt for those creatures only grew. And when the clans raided Sirien, he didn’t stay to see. He didn’t want to watch those weak people conquered. It was not fair that they couldn’t fight back. It was not a genuine victory. The pathfinder kept those thoughts at bay with the solace that the ones taken north would find as much happiness as his foster mothers had, and focused on traveling further.

Sirien was then behind him, physically and metaphorically, in time and space. The country where he was right then, Lilen, was beyond the alps that protected their southern border. As far as Ulf understood, winter rain and summer winds had devoured any path built in those peaks long ago. He wondered what treasures would be beyond the difficult terrain and dreamed of mapping a path that went all the way down to the other sea.

By then, he was no pup anymore. He was a skilled survivor, a good pathfinder, and even though his skill in combat hadn’t gotten any better, it was more than enough. Sometimes, his knee would pinch in sharp pain and his back ached if he took days on end marching without rest, but he knew the medicines to those ills, and there was no one to push him but his sense of duty.

He enjoyed his life a lot.

Most of the time, at least.

Where the alps finally gave in, there was a valley that revealed itself abundant in breathtaking sights and luscious vegetation, inhabited by very few people —only a small village of isolated dumb humans and its farms. The kind of dumb humans that trudged alone into dangerous turf without any means or preparations, who let each other starve and die, instead of sharing what they had, who scarcely received visitors. It was a place forgotten by the rest of the world. A place where there was plenty to explore and where he could work in peace.

He’d seen the village only twice through that last year. For the most part, when he approached the tree line, there was just one farm in his sights, the last one up the road where a sheepherder lived alone with his wife. That man would take the sheep to the green pastures uphill a few days a week, until last year. The sheepherder had retired, it seemed, and a younger woman took his place. Ulf would hear her singing at the end of each day —a wailing, high,pitched sound that echoed through the entire valley, calling forth the sheep back to her.

Only when Ulf saw the two lost sheep foraging in his wood, did he understand what had happened, and who was the woman he had struck. He thought about the damp winter coming ahead once more, and how much he would enjoy a mattress filled with wool instead of sleeping on furs.

To the shepherd woman, Ivy was her name, panic wasn’t a strange sensation. That icy-cold grip on her gut had become another burden to be dealt with. It was constant company, an everlasting state of impending doom that would leave her feeling empty, if it ever became absent. It was the first time, though, in a very long while, that she could do something about the threat. It felt good to run. To see a way out. Her body had gathered all those months of anxiety to jolt her forward. Half mad with fear, the woman only stopped when she reached the mountain trail. Only because her knees were giving in, and not because she felt safe.

Then she screamed, and her howling was a horrible sound of pain. She sat down and cried. Her body ached with the strain of her failed task, her fear, and the pernicious idea that she should be dead.

Father found her an hour later when the sun was setting. He had a lamp in one hand and a cane in the other.

“Useless slut!”He cursed, and the cane came down on her head, her arms, her face. “Where are my sheep, you wretched child?”

From him, she couldn’t escape. There was nowhere to run, no mercy.

“I’m sorry, papa, I couldn’t find them.”

“Lazy! Useless!”

Ivy deserved every strike. She knew, accepted them, even as the despair in her heart grew. When they got home, Ivy wanted to go to bed, hide in her small room and cry, but she had to endure the screams and the hits, the sad eyes of her mother on her, and kneel in front of the fire to pray without supper, for hours, obedient, tamed. There was always a loud voice in her head screaming at her, a voice that mimicked her father’s tone but was a combination of the harsh voices of all the village elders that had judged her. It called her names and pointed out her mistakes with stern cruelty.

That night, for the first time, the voice had gained new features. Now it had a face, one with bright yellow eyes and piercing teeth poking out from a mouth that wasn’t big enough to fit them.

No one would believe her. Worst yet, they would only say she was trying to escape her duties. Her punishment.

Ivy didn’t sleep that night, nor the night after, and for many nights subsequently, she barely rested for over three hours. Still, as soon as dawn painted the dark sky with pink highlights, she dressed and gathered her basket, her shawl, and her staff; tied her shoes, and left to take the sheep to the field. She had no excuse to stay in the small cottage with her family. The job was not something she could abstain from, not even for one day.

The field was her chastisement but also her hiding place. Once she was out of the farm, her world became simpler. It revolved around her and the sheep, and the animals didn’t for her crimes and sins. They kept her company and trusted her judgment as no one else in the world did anymore. Even though she hated it, there was a peace that allowed her some rest.

However after the two sheep got lost there was the threat from the monster of the woods. A beast almost twice the size of any man with gray, sickly skin, long fangs, clear ghostly hair, dressed in weird clothes stained dark green and dark blue. Ivy started to check the tree line while traveling her path, waiting for the bruteish figure to come out of the shadows. She looked over her shoulder every few steps to make sure she was alone. She prayed she was left alone.

When she took the herd to the open field beneath the bright sun of the morning, Ivy also usually could rest and sleep. Not for long and not too deep, but enough that she could carry herself back home and endure the hardships her family planned for her. But then, scared and incapable of trusting fate enough to take her naps, afraid more animals would strand or that the monster would come for her, she kept awake, on the edge of panic. She fought hard to keep the routine, even though it felt pointless. Every day, she prayed for forgiveness and relief from pain. Every nightfall came and dragged her back home to be screamed at and beaten, and to another sleepless night. Slowly, hour in and out, she lost herself in the fatigue. Her headache became an everlasting presence.

One day, as she watched the sunrise from the high path, one mountain by her side in blue shade, the other being painted in gold as the aurora went by, Ivy forced her eyes back down and studied the trees. She could swear she saw yellow eyes staring back. The sheep walked by her and went ahead before she found the courage to move. Someone was coming out of the woods. It was one of her friends, whom she missed so much. The girl ran to her and hugged her tightly, soon followed by the rest of the group of young women. They walked with the sheep, played with them, and called for her. She told them how she craved their company and asked about the boy whom she had hurt. No answer made sense. Their voices were siren songs of madness.

The sun shone so brightly; it made her body feel warm and sickly. A figure of intense light came down and stood in front of her, bent forward, his one flaming eye taking all of her in every detail, and Ivy just knew he would find her lacking. No virtues, no merits, just a sinner who had no place in the world. His light made her feel small.

Ivy woke up. The world was dark, pitch black. The sky was stained with stars, but no moon. She realized she had never reached the pasture, only fainted halfway there. She was hungry, in pain, and her head spun around. Ivy turned around, coughing, and placed her hands on the dirt to push herself up. As nausea overcame her, she managed to find some balance to look around. The animals had scattered around the road. Dread overwhelmed her heart with the idea that more of them had run away, and it was her fault.

Ivy could already hear her father’s screams as if he was just behind her.

She couldn’t bear it. She just panicked. Grabbed her skirts and ran away. Up the hill and forward to the mountain trail until she found a curve in the ground where she could lay and hide.

She sat there, and hugged herself, crying, shivering, and praying.

Ulf sat at the edge of light to wait. It had become a certainty he waited for, a reassurance that the world was right. He had been captivated to stop and listen to that song chiming in the mountains, that moment when the soft ghostly note of her song filled the air with the eerie aura of impending night. But that day, it didn’t come. Night fell and Ulf stopped in the pitch-black woods, unable to let go of the sensation that something had changed in a way that he couldn’t ignore. That her singing wouldn’t be back on the next day, or ever at all.

He ran down the difficult terrain until he reached the road. He heard a few of the flock astray, going around their business, by themselves, and heard the old Shepard cursing as he rang a bell from his belt to try and gather the animals.

But no sign of his daughter.

Ulf crouched down on the floor and waited.

Then, in the distance, uphill. A short, weak whimper.

He thought about the damp winter ahead and how he could enjoy a warm soft body close to his.

Ivy took what felt like days to move again. Her entire body shivered and trembled if out of exhaustion, hunger, or fear, she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t leave. If she left, she would have to deal with the consequences, and she was so tired. So, so tired. There was no end to her punishment. No relief on sight.

Ivy had no way of knowing a hunter was in her tracks until it was too late and his loud steps were just by her side. She tried to make herself small and invisible, but big hands grabbed her dress and dragged her out and up, then covered her mouth to muffle the screams. She couldn’t see him, but she didn’t need to. She recognized who held her so effortlessly as she trashed and kicked around. He just stood there like a stone wall until she had no fighting spirit left in her. Until her body gave in once more.

Ulf fumbled with her skirts once again, just as he did last time. He dragged her forward a bit, laid her down on the mud, and lifted the fabrics. Fearing a worse beating than the first one, Ivy begged, even though words couldn’t be formed properly anymore by her broken spirit. Her stomach sank. He pulled her shoes, then her socks off of her, then her undergarments, and used one of her petticoats to dry her legs, squeezing them softly.

She realized she had pissed herself out of fear. He let water run out of some sort of container to wash her, dried her once more, touching her without any sort of shame or regard for her prudish ways. When he seemed satisfied with his work, he grabbed her by her wrists, lifted her, and pulled her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.

“Please let me go. Please, please, please, please…”

Ivy realized she felt out of her body, her mind drifted behind as he carried her away over his shoulder like hunted-down prey. And he was taking her uphill. Farther and farther from the world she knew. Her hands held onto his back so she could lift her head, but it was too dark and too confusing. She didn’t know where she was going.

The giant held onto his prize as he strode through paths unknown to any living man, all the way to where forest turned into a mountain and the wind howled against the gargantuan altitudes. There was a rift within the stone. It had been long forgotten until Ulf found it and turned it into his shelter.

The cold night air gave in to a cozy warmth as he waddled the narrow path inside. The darkness smelled not of dampness and mold as one would expect from a cave, but of ashes and fire, of musk and fresh cooking. The sinuous way ended in a rounded and ample space. In the distant past, people had used primitive tools to expand it and made what could be considered a house. Ulf had turned it into his living quarters two years ago. He needed very little. Apart from the furs that served as his bed, he had benches, a table, and storage shelves. However, the centerpiece was his stone and clay oven, his hearth, so well built that it had kept the embers alive after hours without being tended.

It was too dark, so he just went by his touch and his knowledge. He let the woman down on the warm slabs around the fireplace. Calloused rough fingers explored her shapes, and cupped the small face, cold and wet with tears, making her whimper, a sound he already enjoyed very much. Next, he found the small shoulders that trembled and underneath, a torso that fought hard to take each breath. She had a leather bag and wore an overdress, an apron, and a belt of fabric that he pulled apart until he could untie knots and loose ties to tug and lift them over her head.

As her cries began anew, Ulf focused on tending to the task before he could second guess his snap decision of taking her, before he could weigh the responsibility of an unbroken captive. Ivy could barely breathe. Everything she was had disappeared in the chilling sensation of despair.

Still, he pulled her forward to her knees and pushed on her underskirts. He moved to her ankles and up her legs, excited to lift the layers and find more of her skin. The underclothes were tied with ribbons too delicate for his brute hand, so he just cut them away, placing the knife under her waistband and pulling until they were thorn. That made her scream. The final piece she wore was a long white tunic that he could just yank away.

With her now naked, the monster could feel her softness better…She hugged her breasts, bent into herself to hide away. Ulf touched her shoulders, her back. Caressed her thighs, her legs. He held her nape and brought her close to him, caressing her head beneath the scarf and the middle of her back just over where he could feel her heart hammering. Ulf loved that she was so small. So easy to push around.

Ivy felt the leathers and furs of his clothes, the hot temperature of his body warmed by the exercise, and the heavy heartbeat underneath her ear. She was sure she was living through her last seconds and begged forgiveness one last time.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

The monster took the rope off his belt, bent it in half, and used the loop to go around her waist, tying it tight enough so she could feel the grip, but not so much that it would hurt. Then he tied the ends around his buckle. Being sure that there was no escape for her, he put her to her feet. Ivy cried. The sound echoed all the way deep into the cave. No one was there to hear but them. He petted her cheek and moved back to tear a scrap of fabric from one of her many underskirts, dampening it with the rest of the water from his canteen. He washed his palms first, then moved on to her.

His hands, calloused, big, were so weird against her skin, pale and sickly. He bathed her like she was a baby lamb found in the mud, brushing the dirt away, then the sweat and the last traces of the mess she had made of herself when in panic. Then he became bolder in his endeavor. He grabbed one of her legs and forced it to the side. The warmth of the cave could be felt in her groin, and Ivy couldn’t believe that was happening. The humid cloth rubbed the inside of her thighs, and closer and closer until it went over her flower, between the folds of skin, pressing softly but with a certainty of what he was doing. He moved down to her ass and back. He stopped, folded the fabric, and did it again, pressing down on her sensitive holes, making sure she was cleansed.

The fabric scraped her vulva once, twice, thrice, then it stopped by rubbing her clit with a pressure that wasn’t just to cleanse. Ulf didn’t know much about humans, but that much he had learned. When it came to dick and cunt, their species were pretty much the same. Felt the same.

Ivy stepped back, scared. The monster held the rope and pulled her closer again. His hand cupped her groin, pushed a finger in, trying her hole, delighting in how warm and tight she felt. He knew she would stretch to take him deliciously when the time came. The ache inside his chest that he’d subdued so diligently was finally blooming, growling, and craving. If she was even a little bit wet, he would make her come right then, and understand her place right away. But she was not. Of course, she was terrified for her life. Overwhelmed by despair, a feeling that demanded tears and shrieks and made her hide her body in her arms.

Yet as things seemed dire, the monster stepped away.

Ulf dragged her to the furs by the rope, forced her to lie down. He pulled a thinner fur and covered her. She heard him deal with the dirty fabric. He left it to the side, then went on to fumble with firewood, tended the embers until they sparked and became a flame big enough to light the darkness away.

His gigantic form placed a kettle to boil over the embers and lay down on the floor, tired, resting his head on his hand. He didn’t move until puffs of vapor puffed out of the spout, giving her time to weep by herself and calm down again.

“Tell me your name,”he finally spoke in a whisper.

She held tight to the blanket.

“I’m Ivy Shepherd.”Her voice came out like a whine but it felt like someone else had spoken. Someone else inside her chest. Big tears fell from her eyes.

“Ivy…Like the plant.”The monster said back, moving his big head in agreement at recognizing a word. He brewed tea in cups of polished wood.

“Y-yeah…”

“I know some plants in your tongue. Some animals. I learned a long time ago, so it may be…Rusty.”

He brought the cups to her, which meant he sat just one step away, his big scary shape bending closer again. As she didn’t move, the monster pulled her by the rope until she sat up. The strands against her skin and her bones ached, dull pressure mixed with the sensation of hoarse texture against delicate skin. She hugged herself as he forced her out of the blankets. She was soft, so mushy, and squishy.

Her skin looked so bright against the dark cave, reflecting the fire in a way he found beautiful, but it would darken lightly on her nipples, her armpits, and her groin. His thumb pressed against her lips, even after she retracted away. He used his nails against her teeth to force them open, caressing her tongue. She closed her eyes. Ulf wanted to command her to suck.

“Your mouth feels dry.”That was the only thing he said and placed the cup in her hands. As she didn’t move to drink, he held it to her mouth until she took a sip.

“It’s hot…”She complained, and blew down on the cup before managing another sip before the monster got angry. The punch of heat made her feel back in her body. Alive.

Ulf had never trained a captive in his life. He had learned about it as a teen and seen it from afar. Inside his own house, his foster mothers would display the correct behavior expected of them, but he had never seen his parents teaching them. Now he had his pet project to learn, and that gave him a thrill he hadn’t felt in quite a while. He just had to pace himself, be patient with her.

After she finished the tea, he forced her down again on the mattress and covered her with furs once more, caressing her shoulders over the thick layers. She wept, but he didn’t make her stop this time. He wanted her to tire herself out of the suffering as soon as possible. Then she would be easier to tend to.

For now, he wanted to have a calm first night.

Ulf undressed from his exploration gear, his shirt, boots, and tied his braids again to the back of his neck. Comfortable in just his pants, he took a pot to the fire. To expedite his dinner, earlier that day he had cut potatoes and mushrooms to be seared, and when the smell of spices and oil filled the cave and everything inside was golden and toasted, Ulf added water to finish cooking.

While he waited for that to be done, he went to Ivy’s bag. He wasn’t surprised to find very little inside. A meal of dried meat, cheese, and bread inside a small wooden pot that was decorated with carvings of flowers, her shawl, a wooden box with the cutlery, a bottle of something that smelled sweet. The last item was a small sculpted wooden sun that once had been painted with yellow pigments but now was mostly faded.

“Ivy,”he called.

She didn’t answer but flinched. He tugged on the rope that bound them together. That made her turn to him, her face flushed with desperation. Her stare was unfocused, disturbed, searching for any sign of disapproval, he guessed. Fear was useful in the first days to keep them from running, but it was no long-term solution.

“You didn’t eat today?”he asked, as softly as he could.

“.. I had some milk this morning. I brought food to eat at the pasture, but I never got there.”

“You didn’t?”

“No, I…I guess I fainted. I woke up a little before you…found…me.”

She was so scared when he was close to her again, touching her face, holding that small head between his large palms. He caressed her cheeks.

“You humans are so cold, I can’t tell if you have a fever”

“I don’t think I do,”she helped. He bent forward and snuffed around her face, passing his nose on her skin, which also meant the sharp fangs that poked out of his lower lip did too. Ulf forced her mouth open so he could feel the smell from her insides, holding back the desire to lick her small pink tongue.

“Don’t smell sick…”He said. “What caused you to faint, hm?”

The way her eyes darted away from him and into the darkness made his heart growl with apprehension. She didn’t speak, so he poked her cheek.

“I just haven’t been sleeping well.”

Ulf struggled to remember the words but touched her head and heart as he spoke to help with the understanding.

“Hm. That’s dangerous. Sleep is vital for…And…”He let his fingers lay on top of her head and her chest then caressed the soft skin from her to her neck with his thumb. “I’ll help you rest tonight so you feel better tomorrow.”

He grabbed a bit of the cooked ingredients from the soup and brought them to her. He placed the pieces of cooked veggies in her hands and watched as she moved the pieces to her mouth, chewed, and swallowed without further arguments. Like a scared kitten being fed fish. Then, as she drank more tea from a fresh cup, she made a disgusted face that brought a smile to his lips.

“My mouth is tingling,”she said.

“This will help you rest.”

“But…Why?”

There. The moment when she would learn the truth. He held her shoulders and caressed her skin, but he knew she wouldn’t find any solace in his gesture.

“Don’t you understand why you are here, Ivy?”

“.. I…Don’t…”

“Hrm…I’m claiming retribution.”

Ivy felt her chest filled with mixed emotions to the brim. She felt like she would burst like a ripe fruit being squished.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trespass.”

“It doesn’t matter. You did. It’s my land and my laws. If you are to invade, I’ll have you obey them…Do you know what we do to trespassers, Ivy?”

“I’m sorry.”She tried. She knew it was in vain, but she tried. “I know nothing of your laws…Please, let me go.”

His eyes glowed yellow. She couldn’t look at him without feeling like crying all over again.

“God, have mercy on me…”

He shook his head and grabbed the knot of the rope that held her waist, pulling it so she could feel the pressure even more.

“Your life belongs to me now, because you have no strength to fight for it, and in my land, I decide what to do to those weaker than me. So I decided that I’ll keep you here. I’ll have you obey me.”

“Oh god… Oh no…” Ivy whimpered to herself, as panic came back ice-cold in her gut, her breath quickening again.

Ulf let go of the rope and she cowered until she reached the stone, hugging herself and sobbing. He let her. Like a feral cat brought to her new home, she had to fight the fear by herself, and only then would she be open to listening to him.

Eventually, the tea and the exhaustion got the best of Ivy. Ulf tucked her in bed when she finally gave in. He carried her back to the furs and wrapped her in the blankets, caressed her head when she closed her eyes.

In dreamland, she rose, grabbed her staff, and took the sheep to the field. Again, her friends had come to visit her, so they had a picnic beneath her favorite tree. She watched the day go by slowly, in peace. Then as the sun was setting and she sang to call her sheep, she woke up.

The cave was dark. She was naked and wrapped around in dense furs that made her sweat. Her head ached so much she couldn’t think straight. Ivy felt sick and dizzy, and her entire body ached. She took deep breaths to calm herself but didn’t manage to.

Not too close, but not so far away, the huge figure of a humanoid monster also lay down, asleep.

The first thing she managed to do was pull at the rope and try to untie the knot around her waist, but it was so tight that all she accomplished was bend one of her nails. As one pain joined the others, Ivy felt like crying again. She gave up on moving. She felt stagnant and tired until thirst and the need to go to the bathroom gave her the courage to move.

She pushed the furs away from her and got up, intending not to wet herself. She didn’t take even a single step before that made the monster wake up from his sleep. She screamed.

“Quiet,”Ulf ordered.

He tugged on the rope to make her come back to bed and lay down.

“.. I need to…Relieve myself.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I need to let water out of me.”

“You need to pee?”

“Yeah! That.”

He got up. When he stood like that, side by side with her, she reached just below his chest line. Towering over her, the monster walked around the cave and grabbed a lantern that he lightened with an ember. He wrapped the rope around his hand and pulled for her to follow deeper into the cave.

The passage was an archway carved out by something sharp that led into a stairway that was half sculpted, half-formed by nature itself moving its slow forces through the ages. The corridor didn’t go in straight lines but snaked about with its own desires. There were passages to what she guessed were other open spaces. Here and there, Ulf had left useful things – other lanterns, a shovel, a pickaxe. She heard a storming running water in the distance after they went down for a few minutes. As they walked, the monster pointed out the dangerous holes before she could step on them and promised to close them off in the future. For now, she had to be careful.

The way he spoke was such a surprise. So calm, each word was a low whisper.

She was barely holding her bladder by the time the cave became cold and damp. The monster took her inside a curve that led to a small chamber with a slippery polished floor, and a roof that seemed to be decorated with sharp teeth. It was a small open chamber where water dripped from the ceiling and had dug a hole in the ground with effort over the years. It didn’t smell nice in there, but it wasn’t as bad as one would expect.

The monster pointed and awaited. Ivy felt her chest tight with dread.

“Can I be alone for this?”she tried.

“No,”he said and sat down, still lazy from exhaustion. “Go, do your thing. I want to go back to bed.”

He sat on a dry stone near the entrance. Ivy dreaded moving under his sight, but she was barely holding. She walked slowly on the slippery floor, crouched near the hole and let the pee run out. Then she collected the dripping water from the ceiling and washed her groin. She was shaken awake by the cold. It was so gelid it burned her vulva on contact, made her jump and shiver. It was torture, so she took a while to clean herself with small amounts in her hand instead of exposing more of herself to the freezing drops.

The sounds she let out were soft whimpers that made Ulf’s heart feel like it was being squeezed. He wanted her to moan like that because she would be feeling his hands on her. Because she would be taking pleasure from his touch.

He pulled on the rope to bring her closer. She was clattering her teeth by then.

“Wait here,”Ulf told her.

Ivy hugged herself as she waited for the monster to pee as well. She focused on hearing the distant sounds of the mysterious underground river to distract herself, but it had the effect of making her sadness bloom. Mortified by the cold she felt, and the loneliness, the uncertainty, the fear, she was crying again when she heard him getting closer as he pulled the rope to shorten its length around his massive hand. The sight of him moving out of the shadows gave her such a deep feeling of dread. She shut her eyes.

He poked her head once more.

“Go cry on your bed, not here.”

They walked back and the only sounds they made were the footsteps and Ivy’s sobs. When they were back to the fireside, Ulf pushed her down onto the bed and covered her again, caressing her over the furs. She was so scared she could die from it, but his hand was heavy on her chest and he breathed in sync with her, deep and long, until the panic was over. Her head felt light by then.

“Do you want water?”

Ivy shook her head. She was certain he would hit her. Scream and terrorize her. But the monster sat by her side and let the weight of his hand be felt on her shoulder. He rubbed the blanket against her skin until the cold went away, and until she stopped crying.

“It’s hard. I know.”He said, fighting his own exhaustion to keep her company. “It will be easier in time.”

Ivy didn’t reply. It felt good to cry her heart out and not be chastised for once.

It was too early but Ulf decided to not go back to sleep until Ivy was also resting. So he started the morning routine, he brewed tea, roasted nuts and fruits on the greased pan, and cooked eggs and potatoes. As food got ready, he tidied the place a little more, got it proper for one extra person living in. He reserved a place for Ivy’s things to be once he had gifted them to her.

When he brought her food, her pale face was still wet with tears and swollen. Crying so much would only make her sick if she didn’t stop soon. He had to give her reasons to stop.

“Ivy.”She didn’t move. He pulled the rope. “Turn to me when I call you. This is an order from the one that owns you, so you have to obey. I’ll say this just once.”

The woman turned to him like a good girl, and once she realized it meant a meal, she sat down. He didn’t give her the bowl once again, but held it himself and gave her food in pieces so she would take it to her mouth. She didn’t argue or ask, just chewed every piece until it had run out. She ate considerably less than him, so he took his time as she sipped tea and calmed herself down from the sobs.

When he was done, he licked his fingers and left all the dishes to the side.

He crawled the floor until he reached her clothes that were drying up near the fire. He had to wash her undergarments, but her dress was just a little bruised with dirt. He grabbed the undershirt and looked into the details. The neck and the cuffs were beautifully embroidered with flowers and swirls.

“Did you do this?”

She lifted the head from her knees.

“Yeah…I sewed and decorated it.”

“It’s good. Good work.”

He took the apron and the dress, turned them around. Her clothes were a lot better than most peasants he had met. They were made of linen, not only wool but there wasn’t flax being planted in that valley, so that meant they traded. They weren’t as isolated as he thought.

“Is there a meaning to these symbols?”

“No, I…I’m just better at embroidering flowers than anything else.”

“Embroidering?”

“Needlework? Hm. Using colored threads to draw on fabric.”

“Ah, of course.”

“Can I have my clothes back, please?”

“Not right now,”he said and put them back to hang.

She hugged the furs around herself. Scared and trembling like her sheep on the lonely night when wolves were around. He realized that she was imagining stuff, probably guessing the worst.

“Who waits for your return? A husband? Children?”

He assumed there were no children. He never saw or heard them. But he feared the spouse.

“My…parents. They need me.”

“If they did really, they wouldn’t send you to be away from them all day” She sobbed a little and hid her face again. He knew this moment was always bad. He’d never seen it, but he heard the stories. “And it doesn’t matter if they do need you…”

Because he needed her, and his will was the only one that mattered now.

“I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

“I bet you are…But it doesn’t matter. You are mine because you are weak and I’m strong. Because I can and you can’t stop me.”

“Please…”

“Don’t beg on this. It won’t help…”

“But…Are you going to keep me here? That’s it?”

The monster moved to the fire to serve another teacup because he didn’t have much to say. He waited until she had taken the truth to sit by her side, to place the tea in her hand.

“This one won’t make you sleep. It’s just calming.”

Maybe it was the gentleness in his voice or the idea that she had no choice. She drank anyway and then he put her down to bed. That would become a thing for them, a recurring dynamic. He learned that he loved comforting her.

Ulf had many things he wanted to do outside, but that meant taking her with him or tying her down and he didn’t want to do either on their first day. So he unrolled his latest map on the floor, still incomplete, of the mountain range and all the trails he had found through them. Her village and her farm were there, just on the southeast edge. He had done most of the trails already, but not yet drawn what was around them and most of the marks on the path. Caves, fountains, water bodies, ruins.

Despite the desires of his father and the rest of the clan, despite what was expected of a son of a warchief, he never became a skilled warrior. Even though he had a sharp mind and keen eye, his skill with a spear, ax or sword wasn’t anything above mediocre. Not enough to be the excellent soldier they needed as part of the horde. But he could remember paths and learn dialects in no time, he memorized vast understanding about plants, animals, rocks, and mushrooms, and he could take detailed and clear notes, writing sensible instructions as few could. Above all, he endured silence and solace. His mind was clearer than most and not plagued by anxiety. So he was taught to become a spy and a mapmaker. He would travel with the raid parties or by himself to infiltrate the kingdoms of man and elves, draw their roads, find secret passages through nature unconquered, take in their cities and villages, then come back with new knowledge to help the warchiefs plan their moves.

He would spend years doing that work and then take it north. It would be copied and spread through the clans. And maybe a warchief would use it one day to cross south and raid her village and set a new place for his people to live.

And by then he would be long gone further south.

He looked at her small head coming out of the furs and realized that if he did everything right, she would be there with him.

He grabbed fruit, chopped it, and left it by her side. She didn’t move to eat.

“Ivy”

This time, she turned to him immediately. He petted her head.

“You were sick yesterday. Are you still sick? You slept a lot.”

He touched her cheek. She flinched.

“You feel bad because of me, but not sick, right?”

She agreed with her head. He placed a piece of the apple on her lips. She chewed and swallowed hesitantly.

“Not sick, yeah…

“Good. As I said, things will be easier in time.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Today? Feed you…Keep you. Let you rest. You need it. Later we may talk more.”

“I just wanna go home…

“Shhh…

Ulf dried her tears, rubbing them away with his thumbs. He loved the way her small head fit between his fingers. When she finished the fruit, he took her to the wetroom once more, and back to bed to wait for lunch.

Between those moments when he took care of her, he drew on his map. It was a good lazy day with his small captive. When night fell and she realized she had spent a whole day there, she got quiet and serious. Ivy rode the wave of fear to the end by herself, without crying this time. Hidden between the furs and pretending she wasn’t naked beneath them, she managed to find some peace. She heard the monster move around the cave, sometimes felt the waves of his walk vibrating on the rope around her waist. Time passed and he came again to give her some boiled eggs and mushrooms, then made her drink water and took her to the bathroom once more. He guided her with a heavy hand on her shoulder. More tea came, that one that left her drowsy. She fell asleep once more, and slept completely, without dreams, without disturbance this time.

In truth, she felt better after that. The sleep tea made her mind go blank. She woke hours later, in silence and dark, with only soft sounds of fire in the background. It was relaxing. Soothing.

After a few minutes, the monster came to her. He pulled her up and took her to relieve herself once again just as they did earlier, and Ivy hated only being fully awake once she felt the cold stone in her feet and the freezing water on her groin, but by the fifth time, she could easily crouch and pee in the dark hole, wash and come back to the monster without so much fear in her heart.

She watched him from her bed. He would scribble on this big patch of leather and cook, he mended his clothes and tools, then sat to smoke a pipe. He kept her fed, dried her tears, and checked her temperature. Took her out of bed to release herself, then tucked her back in for the cold she felt. Every few hours he asked how she felt, and never did he get angry when she said she felt bad. But also he never agreed to let her go. She felt too light-headed to do much besides follow his instructions, eat and sleep. And she slept a lot indeed. So the day went by.

She woke up on the third day feeling so much better she barely recognized herself. Her mind was clear, and she was well-rested. It had been two full days without no one screaming at her. Without work. It had been months since she had such a long rest.

The giant was already up when Ivy opened her eyes. Now she knew what to expect, and waited patiently until he took her to the wetroom once more, and this time sat her on one of the benches near the fire to eat the toasted nuts and fruits for breakfast. There was a routine easy to follow, and someone else dictating how that should go, and expecting nothing from her except that she ate and answered when he called.

And within that time, she began to take his monstrous form with a little more comfort. His wicked face with teeth sticking out from the bottom lip, his sickly skin, his powerful body. He moved with certainty and confident calmness, never sprinting in sudden movements. Sat close to the fire, he seemed peaceful.

She looked around at the furniture he had carved out, at the oven built by his own hands, understanding the life he had there. Calculating how she was supposed to fit in all that.

“Will you keep me here in this cave?” Ivy dared to ask just before dinner.

“You will go where I go, and here is where I live.”

“Are you going to eat me?”She mumbled.

Ulf laughed, a loud mockery that made her jump.

“What? No!”

She coiled and watched him shaking his head as he moved around the fire. For now, she could believe he wouldn’t harm her. But by the end of that day, she realized that there was no way to save herself.

Things were a little different on the fourth morning. The monster dressed in his heavy tunics and his leathers above his blue shirt while she watched, taking note of everything he had on him. Knives, hooks, ropes, tools, ax, net, basket, backpack. He looked like he did on the day he found her for the first time. He dressed like hunters dressed.

He let the rope go from his belt. Ivy felt a wave of shock and fear once more.

“I need to go out. I’ll tie you to wait for me, so you won’t be able to do much until I’m back”

Ivy walked away until the thug called her forth and her chest filled with a cold grip of panic. The way he laughed was grim.

“You look like a cat running away from water”

“Please don’t tie me…I’m being good, aren’t I?”

“It’s too soon.”

“Don’t, please? I won’t leave. I wouldn’t know where to go anyway.”

“It’s for your well-being. Your fear might get the better of your judgment. Don’t fight me on this.”

He stood so close then and wrapped the rope in his fingers. He pulled her back to bed by her arm and held her wrists together close to her chest. Then began to unwrap the strand going up one of her arms, around her torso, then down on the other side, running through the lasso of her waist and back where he came from. All the while, Ivy fought panic through heavy sighs. When he was finished, she had a vest of rope that hugged her form, and there were enough loops she couldn’t expand her arms in any direction. The monster gave the rope a strong knot and Ivy found that each loop around her was like a hug, like the weight of the blanket calming her anxious mind.

His hands caressed her skin. Her arms, her shoulders, her back. Instead of fear, Ivy felt her chest warm up. She found her knees were weak and she couldn’t take shallow breaths out of the need to feel the comfort of deep sighs. That was when he easily dragged her with those binds, like they were the handles to a bag. Ivy was surprised. The feeling of being small and powerless only increased. There was nothing to do. She had to follow.

The monster made her kneel on the bedrolls. There was more rope and he bound her legs, pulled her ankles closer to her hips so she couldn’t walk or take a knee, just lay there as a frog turned upside down.

It took her a second to realize that he had her vulva completely exposed to his sight. She blushed and sobbed. His thumb caressed her mouth as her face burned. He pressed forth and played with her tongue.

“You are very pretty. Even more like this.”

She became overwhelmed with memories. Whimpering as he caressed the flesh behind her lips.

“I’ll take care of you. From here on you don’t have to worry about anything.”

His hand went down and one finger stroked between the folds of her vulva and labia. As she sucked the air in surprise, he pressed forth and tested her hole, feeling the warm skin friction. Damp, but not the dripping wetness he wanted. He stopped and sighed, letting her go.

“I’ll be back before you notice it. Don’t fight the ropes so they won’t tighten around you…just relax and rest.”

He covered her body. In the dark, by herself, she still felt his calloused skin in her sensitive places, and it made her burn. She had worked hard to kill that fire inside of her, but he had just kindled it back to life. That singe in her belly. She knew what that meant. But the feeling of being trapped like that was akin to the feeling of being drunk, and there was very little Ivy could do to stop the yearnings. She barely could put one thought after the other, just focusing on the tightness and the warmth. On how she could feel the heartbeat on her head, and how each breath was undermined by the heat. Ivy missed that feeling. That sweet desperation, and the release that awaited on the other side. She missed the trust, the play, the time alone. She missed the thrill of doing forbidden things in secret. She missed the joy she found in those moments, and the side of her that only came out when they happened.

As feelings and memories took her, she fell into the comfortable darkness and dozed off. She didn’t know how long it took the monster to be back exactly. By the time he had the fire tended again, she was barely awake. Her eyelids felt so heavy.

She only came out of trance when she felt herself be lifted from the furs as he carried her by the ropes. Before she could say anything, she rested against his belly and sat between his thighs as he untied her one sectional at a time, with no hurries, occasionally pushing and pulling her to make space for his work. She was lulled into a slow dance with his big hands, and as the ropes went away, he caressed the red marks on her skin.

He even undid her braids and brushed her neck with his fingers. He had a comb and used it to untangle her hair. No one had seen her lose hair but her mother in years. It didn’t seem like a big deal to him, but she felt herself blush with shame.

“I like the feel of your skin,”he said, and suddenly he wasn’t caring for her bruises anymore, but petting her head as one would do to a cat.

She didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t feel like moving her body yet, not even to run, and he seemed to understand that, because he held her somewhat straight, allowed her laziness, supported her weight. Ivy took a moment to notice the contrast between their legs. Hers, soft, short, and pale, and his were strong, thick, and muscular, clad in dense fabric, and made a nest for her to sit inside. He had removed his boots and his feet were twice the size of hers, pale gray, marked by scars and green veins.

The hand that rested on her belly was also like that. Broad, leathery, but still human-shaped. She could see the shape of bones and muscles that she recognized. She noticed how his nails were thick but trimmed and clean. He always washed his hands before touching her.

“I have never seen a creature like you before,”she said after a long silence, and Ulf was dismayed to find that out.

“I’m Iotun. Have you never heard of us?”

“Are you a demon?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Oh.”She said, and he realized she was probably telling some confused and fantastical story in her head about him. He had no idea how her mind worked, he realized. What she knew or didn’t know. She spoke the same language of the last kingdom he had lived in, the same he was trained to know almost as well as his own, but that didn’t mean much in terms of what knowledge she had acquired. Villages as isolated as hers could be pretty ignorant.

He held her hands in his, loving that she could just hold three fingers of his with her grip.

“My people come from the north. Way up north. It would take me months to get back to where I grew up even if I didn’t rest. Some of your people call us orc. We call ourselves Iotun.”

“I never heard those words before. I thought you were part of the forest”

“Like a nature spirit?”

“Yeah…”

He laughed softly, squeezing her fingers.

“I’m not. I’m as much a mortal as you are. I was born to a mother, grew up, and traveled. I’ll someday grow old and die, as you are. I’m just different from you like a dog and a wolf would be. They have the same body parts, just shaped differently”

Ivy got brave and started to move her hands around his, got used to the texture of his skin, and the scale of things. Good, he pondered. She was curious. He could work with curiosity.

“That’s true, I guess. You are like a really big man.”

“And I’m not even the tallest among my people.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah. My father is still a head taller than me, even with his age.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Thousands? There are over seventy clans, all of them with around a thousand Iotun. Some are larger. How many people are in your village?”

“Seven hundred, forty and something. I guess there’s more now, there were many babies last season. I’m not sure. I hope they are ok.”

“Life is harsh around these parts.”

“Yeah…There’s a little bit of trade with the towns down the valley, but only a few times around the year. When the year is harsh, usually things start lacking. Babies get sick easily.”

He pointed to a storage shelf he had built with simple wood logs and instructed Ivy to grab a rounded leather case in there. She got up and went over, her body so pretty in the firelight. He also instructed that she grab the lantern they used to move deeper into the cave. She was so petite, his things looked exaggeratedly big in contrast to her.

If she had never heard of Iotun before, he probably was quite the goliath boogeyman. No wonder she was so scared. He had to see how to make that transition easier, how to build the truth she would believe.

He took the case from her hands, opened it, and unraveled the thin leather with his maps drawn on, branded with tools, fire, and paint. These were the originals he took with him and allowed copies to be drawn from when he met the other elders. He kept them safe and oiled to never rot or harden. It was the most precious thing he carried, his life’s work, and he unwrapped them at his front under the gaze of that woman, putt them in a way that they mostly fit together, even with the different scales. The most recent map was the one he was working on, of her valley and those mountains. He pointed to her where her village was. Then he crawled a few maps north and pointed to the kingdom of Iotun, describing the path, and how the landscape changed. The roads he took and which part he walked by trail with his senses of pathfinding.

Ivy was amazed. Her imagination expanded, dreaming of those distant lands.

“I didn’t know there were so many kingdoms up north. I thought the mountains just went on forever…”

“They don’t. They become valleys and bogs and then other mountains come, and they end in beaches against snow-cold seas that do seem to go on forever but eventually end in new beaches, and that’s where my people come from.”

“You guys travel a lot, then.”

“We do. We know much of this world. And where we can’t go, a mapmaker like myself will travel there and tell of his discoveries so we can know places we haven’t even visited yet.”

He didn’t mock her. He just showed his writings, and notations, and answered the questions she asked. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was happening in her mind, but he was glad to help her have a little more perspective.

“If you are like us, do you have a name like I have?”

“Yes. My name is Ulf.”

“Ulf…”

She tried the simple syllable. He liked the sound of his name in her mouth. Ulf decided it was time to discuss things.

“That’s why you are Ivy Ulfin, now. It’s a name after mine”.

He sat down on a bench, and that helped their eyes to meet at the same level. It gave him a hot thrill to be sat with her this close. He couldn’t wait to have her on her knees pleasing him.

Soon, he hoped.

“There’s a word in my people’s tongue for what you are. It’s vankivaimo… It means many things, but the most important is that you belong to one like me. So if you ever meet one like me, say you are vankivaimo and he will keep you safe until I find you. Most won’t speak your tongue, but they will understand this word.”

Her eyes were so lost, searching for answers in the deep dark. He squeezed her waist to cut those thoughts. She took a deep scared breath. He needed to break her ideas of leaving, but he wanted her to be hopeful, not in despair. Ivy thought of something to say but didn’t. Ulf felt the itch of a mystery to be unraveled in front of him.

“Don’t wander. Say what you think. Ask me what you want to know”

“I have a life out there.”

“A life you won’t go back to. Make your amends with it. On this, there’s no choice. I’ll not let you go, Ivy Ulfin.”

Fuck, it felt so good to call her his.

“Please…”

“Don’t beg on this. It will take you nowhere.”

“It makes no sense. I’m…I’m just…I’m not someone who you’d want around!”

“Oh, no. I do want you here. Very much so.”

She shook her head in disbelief. Ulf felt tired already, but he didn’t give in. This time, he hugged her. He held her close to his chest and caressed her hair.

Ivy was surprised. Whenever she expected violence, he treated her only like a pet in need of caress instead of the disobedient girl she was.

“Ask your questions. I want to help you understand so we can work together. Ask, Ivy.”

Drying her tears, the young woman sobbed.

“To be yours…What does it mean…”

“It means…You be good to me, I will be good to you. Food, safety, comfort. I’ll keep you.”

It meant more, but he couldn’t say that. He’d have to earn, nurture those feelings in her and sow them later when they were comprehending each other.

“..Good to you. What does it mean?”

He held back his smirk and the mean ideas he had in his head.

“We’ll find out together. What you can do that makes me happy. And we find out what I can do that makes you happy.”

She didn’t look at him. She closed her eyes and held herself, trembling, hiding her body. Ulf caressed her waist, her back, her arms, and dried up her tears. He was happy as a young pup with his new warg, dreaming of all the things they would do together. Her naked form was delicate and pretty. He already wanted to hold her, feed her, and care for her. And gods, yes, he wanted to find out what it was like to mate with her. He had never fucked humans before, but he knew it was possible, had seen it happen inside his own childhood home.

But it took time to take that scared broken captive to nurture her into a vankivaimo. To make her love her place.

He would love to break her.

“Can I…Can I have my clothes back? Please?”

“No, you can’t. I like to see and touch your body like this.”

She shook her head. Echoes in her mind made her feel sick.

“I don’t. Like it.”

“No? But I’m being so careful.”

He held her nape agin, scrubbed her hair and massaged the tension. Ivy closed her eyes. She felt the warmth of the massage, and she felt nausea in her stomach. A despair so intense she almost fainted.

“It’s wrong. I can’t. You can’t touch me like this. I can’t be naked.”

“By the law of your people?”

“Yes!”

“These laws don’t matter anymore. You are in my land, remember? I say what is right and what is wrong.”

Ivy shook her head. Ulf held her wrists with the tip of his fingers until she gave up and allowed him to take her arms away from her body.

He caressed her wrists with his thumbs. She felt dizzy.

“Go back to bed now, Ulfin. Rest. Today what makes me happy is seeing you rest. These days may have been horrible, but any day from here onward will be better than the last.”

She ran from him, hid beneath the furs once more. After they had dinner and lay down to rest, Ulf would look at her back and wish time moved just a little faster. Just so she allowed him to snuggle close to her already.

He tied the end of the rope that was around him onto a curve of rock on the wall and went deeper into the cave, all the way down to where an immense body of water ran from one end of oblivion to the other, a freezing, pitch-black river. His eyes could see well enough in the low light of the lantern. He removed his clothes and swam, then lay down on the beach to enjoy the cold.

Ulf held his dick in his hand and thought of her softness. On the image he had of her spread by his rope and how much warmer would be inside of her folds. He pumped his fingers and groaned as he came, pearls of semen shoot through the air into the sand.

She was wet when he had untied her, her vulva glistening with juices ready for a good pound. That meant something. She could be seduced and persuaded. She could be won over and give in willingly. He went back upstairs still naked and dried himself close to the fire. He dressed in his pants because by then he was pretty much sure she had never seen a man naked before.

The fifth morning found Ivy already awake. She stared into the darkness and listened to birds sing far away on the outside. Her dream still endured in her mind, a face she knew well and missed every day. Her biggest mistake. For so long she had reflected on everything that happened, on her viciousness and the consequences of it. The years since then seemed too short, almost nonexistent. Like her life was forever on hold, forced to be the same until she was forgiven. She held onto that belief that things would be better someday once she found penance. However, it seemed fate thought she deserved something worse.

She extended her hand until she felt the warmth of the giant, a confirmation that he was there. The monster’s…Ulf’s soft breaths only made everything worse. She couldn’t even pretend she was somewhere else if she shut her eyes tight. The musk of his body was deep in her senses, the sensation of his heat was suffocating.

But the part about her abduction that was the hardest to deal with was that she had felt worse in the past. She had known fear before that made her more uncertain of the future and her well being. Being taken by a monster wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to her and coming to terms with that hurt more than anything else.

Ulf woke in the middle of her mental rambling. He crawled to reach the water jug and poured himself cold tea. He moved like a beastly bear that woke up from his winter slumber. As Ivy turned to him, he also touched around in the darkness until he found her shoulder. The caress was gentle and short, just to make sure she was there. Ivy felt a little comfort. He was worried about her.

“Can you take me to the wet room, please?”she whispered.

“Oh, you are awake already…”

He got up and offered his hand to help her, which she took without giving it much thought until he was squeezing her fingers. The contrast of size always made her shiver.

This time, Ulf grabbed a bucket nearby and the kettle in the embers of his hearth, letting her carry the lantern and walk forward. They went down to the bottom cold cave room, and after Ivy had done her business, Ulf didn’t take them back up. He untied the rope from his belt and tied it to a stone in the corner. Before Ivy could understand what was happening, he undressed and went to stand beneath the stream of cold water, letting the drops wash away his sweat.

Ivy turned her back to him, ashamed. She only listened as he moved, taking notice of the water dripping down, and his satisfied sighs as he appreciated his shower.

At least, for the most part. She couldn’t help but peek briefly. To meet his naked form, broad, pale and ghostly. He was like a man indeed but in proportions impossible for any man to reach. The huge erection stood purple and bent upward.

When he was done, he called her. He let the bucket fill till half and tempered it with the hot water from the kettle. Ivy realized he was doing it so she could bathe.

“Can I be alone for this, please?”

He moved his head, saying no. Ulf sat down on the slippery stone, and his hands urged her to come closer. With no pulls on any ropes nor her arms, Ivy realized he wanted her to come on her own, and her chest burned up with fear, nervousness, but that familiar note of thirst that she knew all too well. God, what was she to do? She looked at his face, and she knew what he wanted. It would be like if she opened a door in a storm she wouldn’t be able to close.

“Give me this, to make me happy.”He said, his voice so calm, but firm.

“I don’t want to.” She said quickly, in self defense.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want your touch on my body. Nor anyone. It’s wrong. It’s sinful.”

“Ivy, I need to care for you. That includes bathing. Be good and come here, my sweet girl, and It will be over quickly.”

Ivy didn’t find the energy even to step away. It was easy to just walk forward into his arms, and her heart was just so, so tired.

His hands rested on the curve of her waist, caressing slowly, and he made her turn around as he removed the rope. Ivy closed her eyes and remembered the last time someone touched her at all, sighed, and felt so sad. Ulf held her hair up, wrapped it around itself until it stuck in place in a bun, then he poured warm water on her shoulders, lett it fall on her breasts and her ass. He had a block of ash soap close by, and rubbed it on her back first, a big hand scrubbed her skin, massaged her sore shoulders and arms, slid around her torso, only passed by her breasts before going up to her neck. He pressed painful points to ease the hurt.

“Good vaimo. Good… He praised.

Then he poured more water, took the soap away, washed her hands, asked for her to bend her legs so he could wash her feet, and scrubbed even behind her ears, taking care to not wet her hair. And as he finished that, Ivy was turned to him, and he had pulled her closer until she had to place her hands on his chest to not fall forward. From the cup, water fell between her asscheeks, made her shiver and her heart beat faster. He washed her most secret places again, without shame or hesitation, spread her vulva and scrubbed around every crevice of skin, every fold.

And Ulf touched her and felt around, massaging. Her clit was small, fit beneath one finger. Ulf knew he could fuck Ivy anyway. She would run and he would grab her by the waist, pull her down, hold her legs spread and just shove it in. Her cunt was so wet he would go deep in a second, loving the feeling of a tight tiny human enveloping his cock. The sounds she would make while he broke her…The screams and the sobs…He would let them haunt the cave while he found release in her tight holes.

However, she would hate him and every second they had together if he did that. And though the option remained, Ulf had faith in making her give in willingly.

Ivy felt like she would lose her mind, paralyzed in a grip of panic again. She breathed too deep too fast. He wasn’t going to kill or hurt her, yeah, but he was going to doom her. Ulf wanted to fuck her. He would probably do it soon. Everything would be easier if she just gave in and let him find his happiness between her legs. In a second, she imagined how that would go. How he would finger her, make her come riding his hand, bucking her hips against his thick thumb pushing inside her slit. Then he would lift her, spread her pussy lips apart, forced her to feel the head of his dick push in. It would go in as he lowered her on his hard dick, then he would help her ride it. With his sheer stature, maybe she wouldn’t even have to move. Maybe he would just do it himself, use her wet hole as a plaything for his pleasure. Fuck, and with the size of his dick…Would it even fit inside? She could picture in her mind herself bent down over wet stone, held by gray hands, as he lay on top of her and ravaged her. She would scream and he wouldn’t stop. She opened her eyes and looked up. He was so close, breathing hard on her face, being so overwhelming. Ulf, the monster that had stolen her for himself, wanted her more than anyone out there in the world.

But once again, when she expected things to take a turn for the worse, they didn’t. He stopped, moved his hands from her vulva to her waist.

“Can you endure the cold while I wash myself?”

“.. Yeah…I’ll sit on the corner.”

“Good. You are very good, Ivy, it makes me happy.”

She blushed. Nobody called her good anymore. She was only a burden, a worry, a problem. Once Ulf stepped away and the warmth went with him, she trembled and hugged herself. Her mind raced with thoughts, regret and desire pulled a tug of war in her mind. Everything she was held together by a very brittle control that Ulf was chipping away. It would feel so good to give in. It would also set her back so far. She would never be fine. She would never be good. She was so bad, so tainted. The absolute worst. There she was, kidnapped and imprisoned, wishing for a hard monstrous cock inside her holes.

“I’m not good, I’m not, I’m the worst” she whispered.

The monster didn’t hear. Shame consumed her in a cruel bewildering grip, and somehow that only made things so much more desirable. That brought Ivy back to the surface of her desire-dizzy mind, and she closed her eyes and sobbed.

Ulf came by, worried, and touched her back. She flinched. They looked at each other. Ivy had begun to beg to be allowed to leave. Now it will come. Screams and hits. He was so strong he would break her. She would die.

But the monster just looked at her from above, quiet, his somberness being a wicked reminder that she couldn’t escape. He soon moved to put the rope on her waist and take her to the fire to dry.

The hike back was fraught. Ivy walked in silence and with slow steps.

Later that day, after breakfast, Ivy sat down surrounded by the comb and the pins and ribbons of her hair. She brushed her locks and slowly braided them, rolled the hairdo until it became a bun tied with a bow. It was all that she could do to herself to center her mind. After what he had said, after living through the ropes and his hands, and the long night of nightmares that followed, she felt out of her body again. As if she was stranded in a small boat going down a stormy river, with no way of holding herself or keeping her mind together.

Ulf crawled just at the corners of her sight. Moving over his leather piece, carving it with thin tools, with no hurry in his mind, he didn’t mind her at that moment. That didn’t leave Ivy any calmer, though. It only made him unpredictable. She didn’t know when he would get up or when he would talk to her, when he would scream. Keeping quiet if not out of sight was the only thing she could do to save herself.

However, she was unraveling. All those feelings and memories she had kept down were coming forth, pouring out of her heart in an uncontrollable stream, and Ivy fought to suppress the urge to vomit.

From the corner where he was drawing, Ulf could see how badly she handled herself. Every noise above a whisper from him made her jump. Some sort of dangerous thought was brewing in her head, making her act out. He thought she might have grown out of the reasonless fright already, but no. She still cowered as abused animals did.

He lay down on the furs by her side, did his best to make his big fearsome body seem inoffensive. She looked down at him, helpless. Her eyes were in flood with not-yet-fallen tears.

“What can I do to make you feel happy, Ivy?”he whispered.

“Ulf…Please, let me go…”

He shook his head as she sobbed. She hid her tears in her hands and looked away as she mumbled: “Please…I can’t make you happy, so…There’s no point.”

“We’ll find a way.”

“And what If we don’t match? What then?”

“It will happen. Don’t worry about it.”

Ivy felt the soft touch of lips on her shoulders. She froze, but he moved closer still. It wasn’t going to be a good day. Ulf could understand that. There was much about her he didn’t understand already.

Ivy shook her head furiously, looking away.

“You want a…lover. I know you do. And I can’t be that person.”

Ulf couldn’t hold back his wicked grin.

“Oh, I doubt that very much. You are perfect for me, sweet vaimo…“

Ivy shook her head eagerly.

“Let me go home, please…Please, please…

He was almost whispering now, getting closer, his hands caressing her back. He was too much, all over, pulling her to drown in his presence.

“I’d give you comfort and care. I’ll make you go crazy with pleasure every day if you settle here with me. All you’d have to do is ask.”

“I can’t do that. Never…”

“Why not? Hm? Is it another law of your people?”

Ivy couldn’t believe it. She had been so diligent and now, it all had been for nothing? Shaking her head in denial, she tried to get away from him again, but there was nowhere to run. He allowed her to crawl away from his arms, but the rope kept tight around her skin was only a symbol – he didn’t need that to keep her there. He was stronger and faster. He could just pin her down.

For now, all she could do was plead and pray he understood her.

“Please, you don’t get what you are doing to me. What I’m going through. You can’t give me what I need! By keeping me here, by wanting me, teasing me, you are only making things worse.”

Ulf sat up straight by her side, pulled her face to look at him. Was he still so scary?

“Then explain it better to me, Ulfin…”

He moved to grab the rope and a blanket of fur and, to her surprise, walked into the entrance corridor to go outside. As he spoke, his voice echoed in the tight spaces of the passageways louder than the sound of their steps. That conversation made him realize how much he was assuming about her. He knew there was something he was missing in her story that he had to drag out now.

“I have been in this cave for a while,”the Iotun told the woman to ease the conversation. “I heard you calling the sheep to you almost every day for the last year through the whole valley. But before that, the shepherd was someone else.”

“Yeah. My father was the sheep keeper before.”

“Did he lose his ability to do the job?”

“No. I just took over…I…

There it was. She choked on her words. There was some sort of pain inside of her that was deeper than the transition into his vaimo. The secret that hurt her so much.

“You… Ulf offered so she would keep speaking.

It was a bright sunny day. The outside was just a patch of the forest like any other, with a discreet trail going out of the entrance. However, they were high enough up the mountain that enough light reached them through the peaks and trees. Out of instinct, Ivy went to stand in a patch of sunlight before speaking, basking in the warmth she had missed so much. Against the rough landscape, she seemed even more ethereal and delicate. Humans barely looked like animals, sometimes. They could come across as fae-touched.

Her voice was louder, then, powered by the lack of need to compensate for the echoes. She fumbled with the rope, pulling it away from her body. The Iotun gave her all the time she needed to think about her words.

“I have been…Bad. I broke an important promise and caused my parents shame. A dear friend was hurt because of it. I ruined many things.”

“So the sheep are your punishment?”

“Watching the sheep is my…redemption. It’s humble work. Away from sin. It’s how I’ll repay my family for the pain I caused.”

Ulf pondered. It hadn’t occurred to him that one such as her could be dishonorable. But the world of man was unfair, and people weren’t taught the way of honor with a true understanding of what it took.

“What did you do?”

He looked at her. She had rolled the rope around her fingers and her palm to ease the tension in her heart.

“In my village, everyone just knows about it. I never had to tell”.

“Don’t tell me if you don’t want to, but…Know that I’d not treat you any differently than I do now.”

“I doubt that. Everyone did. It was bad, Ulf. I screwed up.” She dried her eyes once more on the back of her hand.

In the sunlight, Ulf’s skin was a pale blue bright color, and his hair was stark white. His yellow eyes glowed like painted glass. Even though he was so big and brawny, Ivy could find some gentleness in his traces after so many days – around his brow, on his smile, on his round chin.

He moved closer. He had to show her that her new life would be good. That she had suffered enough already before meeting him. Ulf unrolled the fur on the floor under another sunny patch and called her closer to sit down on it.

“Ulfin, my only worry is what we build together as Iotun and vankivaimo. Your life before me is not for me to judge. Besides, I already said. The law of my land is different from your land. What you did might not even be a crime here.”

She sighed.

“God judges me. I judge myself. You can’t erase my sins just by taking me away. I wish you would let me go so I could go back to my penance.”

She sobbed and shook her head, drying up the tears. To her surprise, he stood quiet for a while, thinking hard to himself. Ulf just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Though it meant she wasn’t so dishonorable now, and that she had learned a lesson with whatever had happened, it left him dumbfounded that one would desire to go back to such a life. The training of vankivaimo warned about not letting them develop behaviors out of fear, but out of appreciation and self-expression. He realized Ivy was trapped in fear long before he got into her life. He wasn’t even the scariest thing in her mind right now. There was that eye of a judging god, and judging parents, and her village, all of them were there in the cave, with them, keeping her from him.

So now he had more mysteries to solve. Who was Ivy before her crime? What being judged had turned her into?

“You confuse me greatly, Ivy. But I can respect your sense of honor. How much time was left in your sentence?”

“How much time?… There’s no way to know, Ulf. Only the elders would know when to release me. When my wrongs had been made right”

“That makes no sense. If these elders so desired, then, you would be alone forever”.

She sobbed and agreed with her head, drying up the tears.

“It would only be fair.”

He shook his head, an angry grunt that scared her.

“What crime warrants such an endless regret, Ivy? Did you kill someone? Did you torture them? Did you betray your village and cause a war to begin?”

“No, nothing like that, but…”

“Then it makes no sense. It makes no sense whatsoever. I don’t care what your law says, it’s done for. I’ll cherish every day that I have taken from your boring duties and I’ll be a master that tends to your every need. You will find pleasure living with me and I don’t care what your elders think about that.”

“I don’t want that! I don’t deserve that!”She felt her chest burst.

“Would you rather go back to being by yourself with your sheep?”

“Yes!”Ivy choked on her sadness and her despair.

He turned back to her, a face so serious. She felt his anger like an aura around him that made the world grow quieter. Ulf was not one of explosive anger, she realized. He was quiet, silent, nurturing bad feelings with no hurries in planning his revenge. There it was, the disapproval she feared so much. Now he would hurt her, and things would make sense again. Her face flushed bright red. She felt so raw. All her feelings came up from inside her chest.

Still, he didn’t move to scream. He didn’t say what she needed to hear. He caressed her face, and Ivy broke. She got up and walked away, naked and trembling, but she reached the end of the rope eventually and when she did, all she could do was kneel. The life of penance wasn’t great, but it was dignified. It was what she deserved. At least she was on a path to redemption. If she stayed, she would lose everything.

Ulf scarcely ever saw someone cry. Iotunar didn’t enjoy crying. It was something to be done in private, quietly, around family or one’s spouse. Once he saw a warchief cry when Ulf brought the news that a town built by his clan had been destroyed and didn’t exist anymore. It was a discreet pooling of tears in his eyes as they were in front of his troops. What Ivy did was something else. She gouged her eyes, screamed, and sobbed until she was breathing fast, barely able to hold herself from choking.

Recently acquired and untrained vaimo would do that, Ulf had heard. They gave in to despair too easily, lamenting the loss of their old life and fearing a new one of pain. However…Even if he knew, he wasn’t prepared to deal with it in its full force. When Ivy started to breathe like she was drowning, he grabbed her from the leaves. He feared he had pushed her too hard then. That she would hate him for what he said, so he moved to hold her. She didn’t fight. Instead, she let her body be without strength, limp in his arms. He carried her back inside, and the screams she let out became a chorus of despair when the anguished echoes reverberated on the walls of stone.

He feared he had been foolish. A pretentious gull. His prize wasn’t an ignorant peasant ready to be groomed into a slut, and thinking as much was enough mistake on its own. He believed she would be easily seduced by his dominating presence, but Ivy was…Willful in a way he hadn’t known that close yet. The way she clung to her people’s faith was a huge hurdle in his plans.

The Iotun felt his chest burn with jealousy like he never did before. How was he to compete with a god? As he tucked his vaimo in bed, caressing her back, he finally understood the warning of his elders of the dangers of training a captive. He could glimpse at a dreadful future where she hated to be alive at his side, imagining the next months filled with cries and desolation until she gave up on everything. All because her deity commanded her with a louder voice.

Just imagining her denying herself, wasting away in a stupid chore for years, made Ulf want to bring all the clans down on her village.

He carried her shoes to her, and a blanket, then pulled her forth by her hand deeper and deeper into the cave. Ivy heard the sound of raging waters getting louder and louder as the temperature dropped. When it almost seemed unbearable and her whole body had goosebumps, Ulf brought her to the open wide space of the underground river, the behemoth empty maw where the beach of soft sand from all over the mountain went on for a few steps before reaching the water.

In that wide space, even Ulf looked small.

Ulf took a rock and showed it to her by the light of the lantern. The purple crystal shone brightly in hues of blue and pink, refracting the light in a delicate mandala, drawing glistening lines on the palms of their hands. Ivy felt more of those around with her feet while walking, so she held her blanket bent in half and filled its curve with as many as she could find. For a while, her heart was a little lighter.

The giant stood by the water and picked small insects in the sand. Ulf took her to the pantry after, a small, colder, and drier room of the cave where he kept his foraging. Ivy was surprised to find it so filled with roots, leaves, dried meat, and fish. Ulf let her fuss about and choose the ingredients for lunch. They talked about spices, comparing their names in each other’s tongues. She liked dill, he preferred rosemary. They both liked garlic, and she told him where to find more growing down the valley.

This time they cooked together. He laughed at the sight of his knives on her small hands, but she knew how to move them skilfully to cut. He taught her to clean the small river shrimps. They heated oil and fried the ingredients, then ate side by side close to the fire. This time, Ulf let her have her bowl and a spoon. The spoon was comically large for her, and her feet barely touched the floor as she sat on his bench

Ivy made a line of crystals around the edge of the hearth. Spectral lines of light showed up on the walls, drawn by the natural prisms and the movement of the flames.

She wanted to wash the dishes straight away, but Ulf dissuaded her. When she asked what he was going to do then, bright eyes focused on him, Ulf lay down in his bedroll, choosing to nap before anything else. Ivy grabbed the broom she saw nearby. Ulf pulled on the rope until she was standing over him, and he took the things from her hands and had her lay down on her bedroll.

“But…Wouldn’t it make you happy to have help?”

“I lived by myself for a long time, I can do all the chores without hassle.”

“Wouldn’t you like to have free time and let someone else do the job?”

“No. I like things my way. I like my cooking and cleaning. You don’t have to worry about any of that. You don’t need to work, Ivy.”

He didn’t need to speak anymore. Ivy wasn’t dumb. There was only one way she could make him happy. The one thing she wouldn’t dare to do again. If she could purge her ache for sex from her body, she would have done so already.

“You were working every day before we met. I want you to rest now.” Ulf insisted.

“I don’t deserve rest,” she spurted out, anxious.

He only placed the blankets above her.

“Everyone deserves to rest. If you don’t rest, you grow numb, and then even your punishment becomes something you don’t care about anymore”.

She seemed annoyed, thinking hard about her options. There was a hint of anguish there, as always. But as he held his hand to call her closer, she took it, squeezing two of his fingers with her full hand. They lay side by side, but at the usual distance. Ivy got quiet again, but her anguish seemed so much lighter after crying.

“Wouldn’t be easier…To let me go? Search for a woman who wants all of this?”

Ulf turned to her with a gaze so intense, she felt her entire heart aching.

“I’m not doing this for easy answers. No Iotun ever does.”

When his face was soft and relaxed, Ivy found that he almost looked human. She never slept but stayed in the semi-dark thinking to herself. Pondering her chances. Feeling her guilt in a burden so heavy she could almost stop breathing for good.

She realized she hadn’t prayed in a while, so she closed her eyes and begged for divine mercy as she always did.

Nobody seemed to answer.

Ulf came to accept that, as Ivy’s master, he should help her deal with the emotional turmoil she found herself in, even though it wasn’t what he wanted to do. Even if he wasn’t in the mood to be patient. The training to make her understand her role as a captive wife had to adapt to her situation, and a good master should be creative instead of grieving the obstacles.

He had intended to get more strict only after she was addicted to his touch. That had already blown over. Ulf wouldn’t push for closeness if that only brought her pain and repulse. Instead, he would push her into a more submissive mindset first, getting her used to the routine even if she wasn’t engaging in it out of devotion to him. That would allow for time to plan on how to break her properly, and weaken her resolve. If she could at least trust her master, she could be persuaded to give herself to him.

So first, Ulf thought while staring at her soft skin in the firelight, he would rob her of her autonomy for good. He started with small steps on the first few days: he forced her to move and live at his own pace, wake up when he did, be taken to the wet room only when he wanted to, and eat food from his plate being spoon-fed like a child. He enjoyed watching her squirm holding down her bladder while she waited for his permission, and liked watching her eat from his fingers. Eating, getting herself cleaned, getting in and out of bed, it all came from his hands and his will. Whenever she said she could do something, he just retorted that he wanted to take care of everything and shushed her protests. And she gave in so quickly, it warmed his heart. After the first day of soft complaints, Ivy gave up and just moved as he asked.

Ivy refined her ability to detect both clear and subtle cues about how she was intended to perform and act as expected. Routine began to be a dance of given and obeyed signals. Some new dynamics bloomed from that game. Ivy would stand close while he cooked and they’d choose ingredients together. Everyday they would stand outside, and while he chopped wood, she would lay in the sun and watch him work. Ulf undid the tight braids of his hair with her help and they would brush each other after every few days before tying new hairdos.

And before she could grow used to that game and distract herself in that homely dynamic, Ulf went on to remind her that she was his. He returned to his routine of going out foraging and pathfinding, using that as an excuse to tie her up. After so many days without being bound so tight, she trembled in his hands. Ulf was mean – he pushed and turned her around, overwhelmed her with the power he had, as each loop went around her arms, her chest, and squeezed skin, muscle and bone into submission.

On any occasion she became particularly flustered and anxious, he had an excuse to run the rope through her mouth, a knot that pushed her tongue down and forced her teeth to bite into it. He left her face down on the furs. It was absolute bliss to watch her giving up in a matter of seconds, with her arms tied back, her legs spread and no way of escaping, drooling against a knot of rope, her pussy filling with come.

He knew he was messing with her mind. Making her change.

Ivy’s bright eyes pleading for release were the thing he cherished most. He could see her eyelids become heavy, drowsy, as she grew enthralled by the allure of rope. When he came back after a few hours, she was barely awake, and rested in his arms, defeated, enjoying the kisses on her head and the hands caressing her back.

To Ivy, restraint was what she hated the most. It always put her in a dangerous mind space where it was harder to focus. It spoke to that side of her she tried to keep quiet, the one that liked all the wrong things. The silence of Ulf’s absence didn’t help. There was just the soft crackle of the embers in the oven and her breath. Understandably, she would wiggle, forcing the knots and loops, but couldn’t escape. That sense of being stuck made her mind scream and then surrender, become a swamp of confused thoughts. She never managed to sleep to escape, but stayed in the quiet darkness, trying to be good when everything in her body and mind was betraying her.

Ulf would return and massage her, hold her in his lap, compliment her on how beautiful she looked nude and marked, take her to relieve herself, and then bathe her. Only when they were done, and he was there, watching her as he cooked, did she manage to fall asleep. She found that her despair had changed. It wasn’t icy cold and mind-crushing anymore, but hot, and anxious, and it dazed her thoughts with images rather than screams. She would hallucinate about the lines of the rocks, and the patterns of the furs, and on the rope making her skin grow red. She would travel through dark corridors and lose herself in dream scenes of her and Ulf talking. Less and less, she dreamed of the sunny pasture and her friends. The cave was consuming her imagination.

When she was alone and bound, she could feel her filth leaking out, her mind being thorn by need, becoming dangerous, hungry. When she was free, she watched him move as if Ulf were her entire universe, the most important thing in her existence, and her eyes strayed, longing, desiring. His hands, his arms, the bulge in his pants. And it ached. It made her regret it. She was behaving like the last time she had crossed her limits and screwed everything over. Ivy knew she had to fight for her chance at redemption because there was nothing else to lose that she hadn’t already thrown away. However, she was in a battle without arms, method, strategy, or hope of victory. Her mind was nothing but two opposing sides shouting at each other, driving her insane.

In time, she had no will to pretend she wasn’t feeling as bad as she did. She would burst into tears out of nowhere, and take longer to move when prompted to, sleep way too much and eat way too little. But when she expected the monster to take advantage of her desperation, he didn’t. As she lost hope, Ulf seemed only more concerned. Nurturing, fussing over, wanting to see her happy.

In her mind, she believed he was worried and taking care of her as he promised he would. It took her days to realize he was stringing her along.

One night, after she finished his braids, he held her fingers, pulled her to hug his neck. And Ivy did. She squeezed him and caressed his collarbone. Her breasts fit between their bodies. It was such an intimate gesture. She blushed. Ulf was the monster who had taken her away, but the creature who allowed her rest, who never complained about anything she did.

His golden eyes looked back at her. So close. His tusks caressed her face as he kissed her cheek. She felt his tongue on her neck, pressing a point that made her feel everything thundering from her clit to her tongue. It had been so long, but her body remembered well. The storm she had tried to coil was very much alive.

“Sweet vaimo… Ask me to make you happy, Ulfin,” he whispered again, and his mouth brushed on her cheeks, hungry for her, a hunger she understood all too well. An old devil that had eaten at her soul far too much for far too long. Ivy’s brain went into a peak of madness, screaming at her, commanding her to stop. But how was she to oppose a monster like Ulf? When he could just have his way no matter what she said. He was so strong he could have her whenever and in any way he desired, but he wanted her like that, willingly. Craving him. He wanted her to say yes. “Beg your Iotun to give you release, vaimo…”Ulf said breathlessly. “It would make us both so happy, wouldn’t it?”

It would. It fucking would. He pulled her to his lap, his giant hands held her thigh, her flank. One finger slid between her labia, warm and gentle. She heard the lips part from one another, so wet she was. The need for them to be touched more and more until she found the peak of pleasure. It tried her entrance, found her wet and willing, and moved inside her slit, a scorching flesh that was big enough to pressure her sensitive nubs. The heat spread all over her belly. Ivy gritted her teeth.

“Please don’t do this…”She begged.

Ulf laughed. “Why not? You are slippering wet with a need to be touched…And I can make you feel so good.”

Her index finger held onto his tusk, pulling him down. She licked his lips and moaned, and that broke his willpower to hold back. Ulf held her head with both hands and crushed their mouths together. Her face set snugly between his sharp fangs and as his lips demanded, she opened her mouth to meet his tongue.

Ivy missed kissing more than anything else. She loved everything about it, the softness no matter how rough things moved, the wetness, the feel when a tongue caressed her own. She held onto Ulf’s head as he squeezed her waist, pushing and pulling each other to make their movements speed up. Being held by someone so large was crazy, comforting, and unnerving in ways that made the skin crawl.

His hand was back, it felt the juices drip out of her, spread it around to caress her clit and her slit, almost taking her off of the floor, making her ride his touch. He held her face in his other hand, his thumb pushed her lips, and Ivy found herself sucking it, licking.

But then, she froze. Reality came back to her.

“I can’t.”The woman mumbled. “I can’t…Please…Please, I can’t, I’ll be ruined forever, I’ll be damned.”

“Damned? Ruined? Never. Not to me.”

“Ulf, please. Please, let me go.”

He was about to fuck her mouth and her pussy with his fingers, and in the second next, he didn’t hold her anymore.

In that chance, Ivy pushed him away and stepped back until the terrain made her slip, and she sat down and held onto the stone, breathing heavily, flushed and aching. Ulf groaned and sat back, held his face to focus. His pants were so tight it hurt. He was going to go mad.

Ivy shook her head, grasped for reality, cursed herself. She was too dumb, too gullible. After all, he’d also been touching her even more, guiding her, pushing and pulling, putting her on his lap, bringing her closer at night to have his arm around her, cuddling her through the most desperate times.

“You are ruining me!

“I’m the worst.”He said, gritting his teeth. “How do I dare take care of you?”

“No, that’s not it…You are giving my vices space to grow…Grinding at my self-control!”

His hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. Ivy screamed. Ulf crawled over her, holding her shoulders, his white braid falling from his shoulder and caressing her neck.

“Listen, Ivy. I know what I do is cruel. But I was hoping you would find some happiness in being mine. The less you fight, the easier it will be for you. I can’t be as sweet as I want to be if you don’t give up, Ivy…”

“I don’t want it. No, no, no, no…”She looked up at him, sad and crushed. Then she stared into the flames, hanging from his grip like a broken doll, torn from him by that immense pain she couldn’t overcome. “Maybe If I had lived a different life. If we had met before.”She admitted, whispering, making Ulf almost choke in sadness with her. “I wouldn’t care so much about my sins.”

“Before…Before you committed the crime?”

She nodded. Ulf moved back. He breathed hard, and called her to him with his fingers. Ivy didn’t move. Even if he didn’t agree, he saw how difficult it was for her.

“Do you feel it, still? The eyes of your god on you?”He asked.

“Yeah…I feel His sadness that I lost my way.”

“Can’t he understand how hard you have tried?”

“I’m sure He can, but…It doesn’t matter if I don’t get better, right? It’s like…When I was judged and sent home, I was given a chance to be better than I ever was before, you know? Better than when I didn’t care so much about His presence in my life. When I was watching the sheep, I felt His hope that I would improve. But I guess I wasn’t doing anything right because my parents were always mad at me…And things only got worse…Even before you came.”

“Can you tell me what crime you committed? I want to understand it better. Why would he be disappointed in you, even after everything you have done to make things right? Even as you stand here, fighting so hard for his love when it would be so much better for you to give it up?”

Ivy got up and crawled away, not to flee, but to concentrate and search for her memories. She sat cross-legged closer to the fire, her back to the Iotun, so she wouldn’t see any expressions he made as she spoke.

“.. I’ll tell you, Ulf. But…Things will change. You will know what I did and…”

“Nothing will change;”He said, softly. The silence that followed was long and eerie.

“It might.”

“I’ll still be your master. I’ll still take care of you and what you need.”

She sighed, gathering her words.

“It’s been almost…Two years ago, my parents sent me to live with my uncle who had a house in the village. I was there to meet people, study how to be a good wife, and eventually find a husband. I don’t know how much your people care about it, but marriage is very important to us. But I…I was distracted. I liked being surrounded by people, I liked meeting girls my age. I was more concerned with having fun. Those were the happiest days I ever had. I loved the church, I loved having friends to talk to. And I loved being courted…”

It still took a lot of her to remember. Ulf could see the slight shake on her shoulders already.

“The farm and the sheep were a good dowry, so I had a few women come to talk to my auntie about their sons. I loved…Being desired. I just had to sit there, being pretty and pleasant, charming everyone. It was like a dream…But I wasn’t humble or modest, and so I invited sin and corruption to take place in my heart.”

“There was this one boy…I was friends with his sister, so we would talk sometimes. He would joke saying he was the one who would convince my family to marry me. I liked his boldness. We were playing, and then we weren’t. He would tell me how he would build me a house and decorate it. How he’d let me grow fat and lazy while he took care of everything. And I let him. I met him in secret. We would plan our wedding.”

“Anyway, he wasn’t the one auntie picked to be mine. I also liked the other boy, he was from a good family, you see. But I didn’t know him. And I knew this boy who loved me already.”

“I wanted to…kiss him only once before getting married. But it wasn’t enough. And we didn’t stop after the first time. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t…Being with him was so good, and every time I feared it would be the last.”

Ulf moved closer to hold her shoulders.

“How far did you both go?”

“We did everything two dumb kids could do together. All the way.”

She had a crooked smile on her face for a second then started to sob violently. The Iotun wished he could have met that sweet young slut before the world had hurt her. She would have bloomed in his hands. He would have loved every second of her virgin desires.

“We got caught. Everyone was just…Furious. Uncle and auntie beat me so much I got a fever. We had to tend court, that was the last time I saw him. Our sins were read to the whole town. We got whipped.”

“They sent me back to the farm to hide me away. Father and Mother never forgave me. I’m their only daughter, so they lost their chance at ever having grandkids and seeing the family grow. I cursed our lineage. But then…To make amends for my honor, even though I had already confessed, Uncle and my cousins grabbed my friend from his family’s house. They pinned it all on him and took revenge. They broke him with sticks and stones. I heard he…He couldn’t even talk anymore. And…His family retaliated, and in the fight, my Uncle…He was hit hard and didn’t survive.”

Ulf waited for the time when she would confess to the genuinely heinous act she had committed, but it never arrived. Her body trembled as she sobbed, and Ulf tried to console her while battling his confusion. It was astounding how much pain had been caused by such a minor instance of young people acting stupidly as they are expected to.

Though Ulf’s first instinct had been to help her walk away from all that zealot human insanity, he knew he had to be shrewd about that whole ordeal. Ivy clung to the narrative as the ultimate truth about herself. That her need for pleasure and love had transformed her life into a nightmare, causing immense misery for everyone concerned. Such a notion had poisoned her mind, drowned that side of her that could become a happy whore for a master, kept her from his touch and his cock.

It was, however, a powerful story. One she believed above all else. Above even the words of her master. Ulf could break that out of her with enough time, either by violence or by love. It would take him years, and he didn’t have them. He wanted her immediately, but not hating herself for it. A true vaimo had to love being by her master because that was her role. If she came to dread it…He knew the tales. They were tragic.

Ulf had to find a way to corrupt that story for his own interests if he wasn’t able to drain the venom out. Ah, but he loved to learn that she had enjoyed herself so much already, that she had such an unbridled hunger once to the point of allowing it to intoxicate her sensible mind and her dignity. It turned him on immensely. He would find a way to drag it back to the surface.

Ivy’s unpleasant emotions overtook her, so Ulf escorted her to the wet room. He helped her deal with the puffiness in her eyes and the harshness in her throat by washing her face, shoulders, and hair. Later, the Iotun brewed tea for his captive wife, a refreshing and calming blend of herbs, and sat by her side as she drank, staring at her from below, trying to appear as sympathetic, gentle, and mellow as he could.

“I see now the greatness of your pain, Ivy. And I know it’s hard to live with regrets like that,” he said in a whisper.

It was the first time anyone had genuinely witnessed Ivy’s heart. For the most part, father and mother never believed how guilt-ridden she was. There was no right way to show sorrow or regret, and all of them were insufficient. It didn’t matter If she got up on time or got up even earlier, if she worked all day or came home sooner to help around, or if she took on more chores or not. It seemed that the only proper way to atone for her sins was to stop existing. If she disappeared and took all evil in the world with her.

Ulf could see how hurt she was. It felt good that someone knew it.

The Iotun held her face and scrubbed her cheek. He was surprised with himself, how much he was aching already with the words he knew he had to say. He took that step anyway.

“This marriage seemed important to your family. You knew you could jeopardize it by getting involved with the other boy, right?” She shook her head, agreeing. “It does make me sad to know all of this happened. Messing up treaties. Betraying one’s spouse…Betraying your parents…Are really serious offenses even on my people’s law.”

The cave got quiet. Only the fire whirred on the hearth as the poor sinner stared into the darkness. Ulf gave her time to take in the hit of his words before going forward. And that hesitation he felt vanished. He was hungry for her despair.

“What is the punishment for your crimes in your law, Ivy?”

The heat of shame ached in her chest.

“Whipping. Banishment.”

“You got all that already, right?”

“Yeah…

“But it wasn’t enough…That’s why you suffer so much.”Ulf pointed, seeming to finally understand how each piece fitted together, and how it was the first time in weeks that they were agreeing on something.

Her tears streamed down her face and over her chest. Ivy was simply exhausted, and she collapsed into a place where there is no light and just gloom. Things were just easier when she hated herself. It made much more sense.

“It was never enough because…”She whimpered. “Everyone else still suffers. My friend is still hurt, my family will never recover. I’ll never marry. The amount of evil I’ve done is immeasurable. And…I’m still a sinner. I’m still broken. I’m bad and I’m lustful. I didn’t change!”

She screamed the last words, and the silence that followed was sharp and chilling. Since Ivy was rubbing her face, she couldn’t see the smile of triumph that drew on his face.

“I was a fool for saying we could leave your past behind…I see it now. You were right. I don’t think you deserve the comforts I’ve been giving you. I think, actually, that I shouldn’t be nice to you at all.”

He got away to let her think about his words, placing the cups with the dirty dishes. When he looked back, Ivy had crawled away. Her fingers were digging in the furs until they became bloodless.

She trembled with each step he took.

“I don’t understand your faith so well…So you have to help me. What I just said makes sense, right?”

Ivy shook her head, agreeing. Ulf could almost laugh in victory.

“You know, Ivy…Usually, when an Iotun takes a vaimo like you, one that is captured and not born into our ways, the Iotun has to help her adjust to her new life. That’s what I’ve been doing. In my house, we always did it with love, nurturing, and caring for our vaimo. Most humans live very hard lives and they enjoy when they can rely on a master to take care of them, paying with care in return. But there are other ways to do this. Painful ways that are much harder to endure. Better suited to people who are arrogant, ferocious or willful. To those who are sold to us because they are criminals and burdens to their people.”

She lifted her head at him, big sad bright eyes begging for release. He would gladly give it to her.

“I think, Ivy, your God took your sheep to my forest so we could meet, because I have what you need to finally pay for your crimes. You weren’t doing well alone, so he sent me to help you. What do you think?”

That was the moment of no return. He would either have her or lose her completely, she would take that new truth and follow it or see his deception and be disgusted. With no middle ground in sight, either victory or defeat, Ulf felt the trip of power and cruelty making his heart burst.

“I think so too, yeah.”

He smiled so gently to her, kneeling to take her cheeks in his hand, caressing them.

“I said I could do anything for you, Ulfin…And I mean it.”

“Ulf…”The woman found no words to express the turmoil in her mind and her chest. She almost sobbed again.

“I heard you praying a few nights ago. Do it again, sweet Ivy. Ask your God for forgiveness for me, because it took me so long to understand how he needed my help.”

Ivy got up and searched for her scarf in the small space on the shelf that Ulf reserved for her things. She ran to stand in a dark corner, covered her head and said the verses that preambled her prayers. While she did that, Ulf caressed the bulge in his pants, feeling the burn in his whole being.

His hunger was coming to an end.

When Ivy turned to him again, Ulf urged her closer. She came and he took the scarf from her, tucking it in his belt. He grabbed her by her hair and turned her around, enjoying the scared scream she let out. The end of rope around his buckle came loose and was used to tie her wrists together. Ivy whimpered in fear as he pulled her by that bind and pushed her to the oven.

Ashes clung to her boobs as the giant’s hand pressed her down on the blocks of stone surrounding the fireplace. The weight of him was unshakable. Not that she would fight to escape. She had, for so long, desired to be back in that place of atonement.

“You are here because you are weak. But you were kept here because you were nothing to your people. If you weren’t, someone would have come looking for you. Nobody came. Nobody cares. Each time I go down the mountain, I never see any living soul looking for you.”Ivy had a desperate stare, taking each word she heard as blows to her very soul. “I pitied you so I let myself believe that you were abandoned out of neglect. But I was blinded by my care to realize the truth, and ignored you when you tried to tell it to me. So now I want you to say it out loud once more because this time I’ll hear it”

“I’m a disgrace to my family and my village. I don’t deserve help. I don’t deserve…To go back home.”

“No, you don’t. You had your freedom and you used it to ruin your life. Now, what you deserve is being mine to use and mistreat for the rest of your days. Isn’t it so, Ivy?”

She was too busy sobbing and shaking, so Ulf pulled her up by her arm.

“Answer me, slut. Do you deserve this sentence?”

“I do,”she sobbed. “I do, I do. You were sent to punish me. If I had been good I would never have been taken.”She said between her wails.

Pulling her by her neck, Ulf kissed the top of her head. She heard him messing around with his buckle and felt her stomach sink. Then the piece of leather caressed her ass and she sucked the air between her teeth. He was going to hit her. The memories came like a gust of wind from a storm. People dragged her down to the pillory. Disgusting things being thrown at her. Her legs, exposed to the whole town. The punches of the whip coming down on her flesh. She screamed and no one moved to help. She didn’t deserve help.

Ulf whispered as he lifted his belt.

“Beg your god for forgiveness, only he can make my hand stop now.”

He slapped her, harder each time, till it stung and sent waves of burning anguish through her stomach. She yelled. He didn’t muffle her screams, but instead, let her terror echo off the walls. He slapped her thighs, her ass, all over her buttocks until everything burned. And when she thought she couldn’t stand any more blows, Ulf forced her legs open.

“Mercy, please…”She whimpered.

Ulf was breathing heavily and hard, not because he was tired, but because he was going crazy on his power and it took everything he had to not take all of which he had right to. He wanted her to be there not because he could hold her down and keep her from running, but because she understood her place. He owned her now. She would stay because she was his to do as he pleased.

“I’m the executioner, Ivy. But you are the translator between your God and I, since I can’t hear him, and between your guilt and my hand, since I can’t know how sorry you feel. Do you deserve mercy or not?”

Ivy sobbed, her hands tightening the ropes. Her knees were weak from the strain of keeping herself together after so much pain. But deep down, she wanted him to hold her by her waist and make everything feel so much better with his mouth.

“Do you, sweet thing? Do you think you paid enough for today?”Ulf asked as if he could read her thoughts. His vanki shook her head, saying no. Ulf was so pleased he felt drunk on pleasure.

The belt struck her pussy lips in a hard strike, making her scorching hot. She screamed so loud she hurt her throat. And before the pain went away, Ulf struck her again, and again and again, until they were both dripping with sweat.

Then he let her go, and she couldn’t hold herself up, just cry and sink in the darkness of her feelings. She rolled to the side and slid out of the hearthstones. But to her surprise, it wasn’t like the last time someone had hit her. She wasn’t left alone to tend to herself. Ulf wrapped her in a blanket, brought her close, and held her through all of it. He kissed her head and said how brave she had been. Then he laid her on the furs and turned her belly down, revealing the bruised skin, caressing and spreading a thin oil of a plant that would help the healing. And he lay there by her side, hiding her in the curve of his body, patting her bare ass with delight.

He remained silent. He expected her to have another meltdown, but she didn’t. She clutched the blanket, fatigued yet serene in a manner he’d never seen before. Ulf’s heart was so happy that he couldn’t help but be sweet, hugging her close so she could sleep.

The next morning came and Ivy met it while cuddled against Ulf. She was so small, she fit completely in the curve between his chin and his knees. As Ulf woke up, his hands wrapped around her waist and brought closer still, humming satisfied as he squished his face against hers. Ivy felt sweaty and lazy. Her ass still ached and she felt soft bruises all over. But the masculine presence rubbing her in all the right ways made her brain wake up.

“This is the first day of your new sentence…Are you ready?”Ulf asked as he turned her around to kiss her forehead.

She agreed. Her heart was about to explode.

The morning routine was unchanged, for the most part, and after going to the wet room, where he cleaned her with gentle caresses, he allowed her to lay down and have more oils in her bruises as he cooked breakfast. Her eyes followed his every movement in fear but also anticipation. Curiosity, even.

When they were done eating, Ivy was instructed to bend down and over the hearth. That pose, either in her knees or standing up, would become part of the routine of their life together. That was how Ulf would check her bruises from there on, and have her take more pain if her skin allowed for it.

Since it was the first time she posed on command, he corrected her with a touch on her spine, instructed her to lift her ass and her head. Ulf smiled as he caressed the colored marks in her skin.

“We have to live in a way that atones for your crimes.”

His hand rested on top of her ass, petting her. Ivy felt so ashamed her voice trembled.

“I should…Pray. Eat right —certain things are forbidden. I should hide my hair and my body, be humble and obedient. There’s rituals and many, many rules.”

“Of course there are. You can tell me later.”Ulf said, sneering at the zealotry. “What you need to remember is to obey me, do as I say. I’ll be the one to worry about your behavior, and all you have to do is follow.”

“..Right.”

“Say my name when you answer. That’s how I know you understand.”

“Right, Ulf.”

“My pretty girl, so good.”He held her face. “Well, you have morning prayers, don’t you? Go do them while I clean our house.”

Ivy agreed. She found a dark corner where she would be out of the way and stared into the dark stone. There were faces in the texture of the rock. She asked for forgiveness, for peace. She was thankful that she had found a path now. Though she hadn’t prayed in weeks, the words came to her easily. Her body moved lightly in the rhythm of the words. When she finished, she felt less afraid.

Ulf washed the dishes, broomed the place, and fixed the bedrolls. Now there was just one for them both. Ulf sat down on his bench, and called his vaimo forth, hugging her tight in his arms, kissing her cheek, and humming. He couldn’t believe she was there. That he had her obedient at last.

“You were scared yesterday. Are you still sure about all of the things you agreed about?”

She blushed.

“Yeah. I am. I feel so wrong all the time. I’m tired of trying to fix it by myself.”

He caressed her face and moved his fingers to her neck, her mouth, her lips.

“I can make you feel whatever you need to feel to unburden your heart. But know whatever I do, is because I want to make you happy.”

“I don’t want to be happy. I want…I want…”

“Shh…I know. Come here”

He purred into her ear as he lifted her from the floor. He closed his legs and lowered her to sit on his thighs, straddling his lap. Ivy burned all over as she held onto his shoulders to keep balance.

“Tending sheep and being isolated forever… is hardly a real punishment in my law. It’s just work, as important as any other. So here is your new sentence…For breaking the trust of your relatives and meeting with people behind their back, you will have to give yourself to me, to abuse my power however I see fit. You are my vaimo and I’m your master. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, Ulf, I do.”

“I’ll bind you and inflict misery on you for damaging your family’s deals, for cursing them with your shame. You will take it appropriately in the manner I shall tell you. Do you agree?”

She looked down, miserable.

“..Yes, Ulf.”

“And lastly…For getting involved with a man even knowing it would put many things at risk, you will learn what it means to serve the lust of another. You will be punished with the same lust you let run loose. Does that seem fair to you?”

She took a deep sigh. He could feel her heart speeding up with fear.

“Yeah. I agree.”

“You are very brave, Ivy. Many guilty Iotun do not face their fates with the same courage you are showing. Try to find some solace in that.”

Ulf made her bend in the same place as before. He held her hands with one of his and used the other to slap her. Each hit made his cock ache as it made her skin burn. He was punishing her with a much gentler tool, his hand wasn’t so abrasive as the leather belt, but the slaps over the fresh red spots made the pain so much worse. He hit her faster and faster, once in each cheek, until she was sweating and screaming. As she lost the strength on her knees, he made her bend over his leg and kept going until it all seemed like a mad feverish dream, as Ivy lost track of time and space.

He loved her like that, hanging from his thigh like a hunted prey about to be skinned. Enraptured by his will.

“Talk to me, Ulfin…How do you feel?”

“I…feel like I’m falling.”

“The pain does that to you after it leaves.”

“And I feel calm.”

“That’s because you let go and let me take care of what bothered you.”

That made sense and felt right. It was so relieving to give in, to share her burden, and let him make the decisions. Ulf held his prize knowing that he would never let her go ever again.

“Now…Do you want one more certainty that you are a filthy slut, Ivy? You get wet by being struck. You crave touch so much, anything makes you horny.”

He pulled her hips up by grabbing her pussy, fingers found their way to her slit, her cunt, her clit. Ivy held onto his leg, moaning. His laugh was sinister and mean. She had avoided such fate for too long. Now there was nothing to hold her back from the fall.

Ulf pulled the skin to gape her as if he would inspect her cunt before enjoying it.

“Look at this pussy dripping out. I bet it has missed something inside of it all this time.”

Ivy trembled, hid her face in her hands in shame. Ulf opened her more until she let out a whimper of protest. He bent his head down and licked from her asshole to her pussy, pleased with the thin delicate skin. It took three licks for Ivy to understand what was happening, and then he was lifting her ass like she weighed nothing and his tongue was pushing inside. He would do many wicked things to her, she realized, things she knew and things she would have no idea were possible until they were happening. The only fact she was sure of was that Ulf was wound up and hungry to fuck her, and he would have his fill before letting her rest.

Ulf held her close, hands all over her body then, running around, pulling her nipples, pinching soft skin, claiming her. Fingers opened her mouth and pushed to the limit of her jaw, trapping her tongue in his nails. She looked up and Ulf was dead serious staring down at her as he pulled her tongue out.

And how could she say she didn’t deserve each and every one of those defilements? She was no pure virgin worth of protection. She was filthy, disgusting. Now she would pay for stranding away from the path.

“In your life, you only acted on your lust. You never experienced what it is like to be used to satisfy another’s desires like a vankivaimo.”Her breaths were so loud, fighting, yearning and frightened. “Yeah, It will be scary at times. There will be moments when you will beg for mercy, but I won’t give it to you, because you don’t deserve it.”

Ivy shrieked. Despite what Ulf just said, he held her there close to him until that shot of panic passed her through, and her breathing quieted down a little bit. He caressed her chest.

“Do you deserve this punishment or not, Ivy?”

“I do…I do, but…Ulf, don’t hurt me, please…”

He laughed softly.

“I won’t hurt you, my sweet vaimo. I’ll enjoy your body like it’s my right. I’ll use your cunt to warm my cock…Fill your hole with my come when I peak…And when I manage to train your jaw, I’ll fuck your mouth too. One day, I’ll do the same with your asshole. I’ll find every fold of your skin where I can squeeze my dick and use it. You don’t have to do anything but take it.”

Ulf’s hand pushed her tiny fingers to feel the bulge in his pants, delighted in how she squeezed it as she was trying to come to terms with all of his size. He was going to fuck her now like he always wanted and she feared. There was no going back from this. She felt dizzy already, tripping on the feeling of having nowhere to go, no hope of escape. Ivy held on tight to what mattered, that she deserved the punishment and had to be brave enough to face it.

Ulf untied his laces. Ivy caressed the hoarse fur of his pubes and went lower still until she felt the velvety skin of his dick, and found it to be heavy and thick. Her hand couldn’t close around it. Ulf moved, fucking her fingers.

“Slut. Slut, slut, slut…I’ll love having you every day from now on”

In a haze, they were in bed, and Ivy was hidden in the shadow of his body bent over hers.

Ulf held her legs by the ankles, lifted them up, and crawled closer. He took her hip out of the furs until she was high enough and the hard-on pressed against her slit. His cock, dense and heavy, warm and thick, bent forward, slid on her wetness as he moved his hips. Ivy bit into her fingers, taking heavy breaths.

“Please, take it slow…

“I’ll take it as I feel like it, vankivaimo…” Ivy sobbed as he slapped her clit with his dick. “My favorite way is slow and deep. I want to make you feel each time I go inside. But I can fuck you fast too, just to have you screaming. Either way will make me happy.”

Ulf didn’t need to use his hands to place the tip of his cock in her entrance, so hard it was. His knees dug in the furs as he leaned over her like a bear about to have his dinner. The slick head of his cock pushed her hole apart in a most delicious way, skin stretching to take him. Ivy felt like it wouldn’t fit, but she was so wet, it slid in. After the whole head was in her, she felt its curve caressing her warmest spot as it went on to find her womb. Fuck, it felt good. Everything in her body was turned to flames.

Ulf trembled as he was enveloped in the damp warmth. Ivy held onto his arms. He pulled her closer, which made his dick go in but just a little bit more. Like he was giving her time to get used to it. His face was tense, focused on the pleasure he felt. They had conquered two-thirds of the way when she felt a painful pressure deep inside. He noticed her face and stopped, but slid his hands on her legs until he held her knees and pushed them a little further, bending her up. The pressure stopped. He moved a little more and Ivy just breathed faster until his balls touched her ass.

“There you go, slut. Full of Iotun cock, you are.”

He was inside, indeed, all the way. And then Ulf pressed her knees down more until they touched her shoulders, and she felt his weight as he moved back and came again as deep as he could in one rough plummet. That did something to her. Everything he did made her feel so small, powerless and scared, and oh so hot inside, but moving like that, saying those things, sent her into a dark place in her head that was so… comforting. She was bad. She was a sinner. Now, beyond redemption. She was ruined already, so what difference did it make if she was feeling good on a monster dick or not?

He began to move, his breaths loud against her neck, his whole body holding her down. Her pleasure exploded, and she screamed, so much come flowing from her pussy as it contracted and squeezed his cock.

That was a cruel position. He pinned her down completely that way, and she couldn’t do anything but take it. Soon she was screaming, burning up, as pleasure ravaged her belly.

“You will feel like you are enjoying yourself at times. That’s because you are lewd and being fucked is what you crave…But make no mistake what’s happening. I’ll be using your body for my pleasure. Anything you get from that is pure luck on your part.”He lied. He had full intention to make her fall in love with him touching her. To know what was to be truly ravaged and fucked by a lover who knew what he was doing.

She got up on her elbow’s, and bent her body to stare at that thick gray skin dick coming in her folds, wet with her come, making her feel empty and then full, every time pushing that alien heat inside of her. The strange contrast of their skins and their sizes and how it all had come together in a rape that she couldn’t help but… Enjoy. All of it, because the pleasure she felt was there, so strong and there was no escape.

She thought sex was something quick, delicious, and explosive. Ulf soon showed her that it could become more than a quick will-o’wisp flame, but a forest fire, and take a long time burning to a scorching degree, consuming everything. She came hard, but he kept going. When he was done ramming her down against the furs, he turned her sideways and lifted one of her legs to hold close. He fucked her, holding her breast with the other hand, and later teasing her clit so she could come some more.

She just relaxed suddenly, and then felt another orgasm start again as there seemed to be no end to that evil pleasure while he moved inside of her.

Ivy started to wonder if his people didn’t come as normal men did. If he could just keep having her for hours. She couldn’t moan anymore. She would go mad. But then he sat down and brought her to his lap, and instead of moving his hips, he just lowered her on his cock, grunting as she sat with him filling her cunt. And as he pulled her even deeper by her waist, Ivy felt his cock twitch, and his breaths quicken, as he held her close and came inside of her.

She felt her pussy leak their fluids mixed together, and it dripped into his balls and down to the cave floor. She fell back on his arms, exhausted. His cock was still hard. He touched her clit and turned it around. With her sensitive spot pressed both from the outside and inside, she came once more.

He kissed her until she was breathless.

Ivy crawled over furs and stone, her head spinning and her body drunk, drowsy as her fingers scraped around in semi-darkness in search of water. She held the kettle with both hands, struggled with the weight to turn it around and fill a cup. No drop came out. As she contemplated the empty cup and her thirst, the giant gray hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. The feral growl of hunger from Ulf made her shiver as her body was dragged through the floor and bed, then pulled against his skin and held down by her shoulders. He kissed her mouth with a need. The size difference turned it into a mess as his mouth sucked the skin around her lips at first. It took him a few seconds to settle and give her space to fit in, smooching softly and then letting her suck his bluish tongue.

Kissing him was always a fight she had no chance to win. She let him find what he wanted in her lips. Only once in a while he was tired enough that he let her kiss him, but usually, it was ravishing, then his mouth went down her chin, her neck, her breasts. He covered her nipples with his tongue and teased them.

“Ulf…”she whimpered. “I’m dizzy…”

“Yeah? I don’t care.”He chuckled, letting his tusks scrape her belly. His tongue caressed her vulva, forcing the skin to part, then rubbed her clit until she was bouncing her hips and moaning, her belly heating up like a pot in the oven.

Ulf took her ass in both of his hands like she was a bowl to drink from and lifted her up to fit her pussy into his mouth, licking and laughing. The salty taste of her mixed with his seed made him horny all over again. He sucked her, coaxing more moisture out of her slit. Ivy wailed, tried to speed things up with her movements to fuck herself on him. If he was truly out to punish her, that would be the perfect opportunity for it. However, he wanted her like that, acting like a whore in heat, fussing to get more pleasure from his efforts.

No wonder she had broken a family contract just to get fucked. She loved it. Her body craved it.

Ivy felt her clit screaming at each push. That sensation became unbearable and everything around her secret parts ached ablaze. She pulled her pussy open to push herself beyond the edge. Ulf allowed her that release and pushed the exposed clit with a kiss. Ivy came screaming, filling the cave with the sounds of her anguish.

The giant lay his head on top of her stomach, a content smile on his face. As her breathing eased down, he squeezed her nipples again to make her jump. He felt so happy his heart could explode.

“My hungry slut.”

Ivy couldn’t speak. It took her a minute to move her fingers, then her arms. Ulf moved up, kissing her skin. She knew nothing of sex. What she had lived in the past was nothing compared to the lust of a giant.

Ulf caressed her face, held her cheeks and kissed her lips. The after sex lasted forever between soothing cuddles, caresses and kisses. And Ivy admitted she loved that. She loved his tenderness.

“We ran out of water?”Ulf asked after a minute.

“Yeah…”

“Go fill the jug for us then, sweet vaimo.”

It had been five days already since he didn’t leave the cave. He would wake up, feed and beat her, then press her down on the furs and fuck her. Then they would nap, eat more, and fuck somewhere else. He kept her drinking water so she could leak it all out through her pussy.

After they had settled in their new routine, Ulf had finally allowed her some chores to help around, but they all came with a wicked twist. A way to make her sexual servitude obvious and unforgettable. It was not enough that she was naked all the time and had to be available to be raped anytime he wanted, she also had to suffer for it.

Before she could stand, Ulf grabbed what only seemed to be two short sticks, pieces of branches that had been cut and sanded, and Ivy watched, felt, and burned as Ulf pinched her clit between both of them and tied them in place with thin leather strips to keep the painful pressure going.

The squeeze made her clit ache in a mischievous way, the heat spreading to her stomach, and she knew she couldn’t take it out. She threaded each step forward, mindful that the movement didn’t rub her sensitive skin any more than she needed to as she carried the heavy pitcher down to the wet room. After it was filled completely, she stepped underneath the cold flowing water, drank as much as she could, then crawled down and peed. To clean herself, she let the drops fall on her groin, but her sensitive tortured clit came alive under the icy coldness. She bent back and moaned. Each drop was a punch of strong sensations, both relieving and worsening the tease of being pinched so tight.

All of it was wrong in a way that felt so right. The pain was deserving. The agony was the least she could feel after wanting so many things she shouldn’t have wanted. She craved to feel his dick inside again. Her abused cunt begged for it. Her entire body craved his hands. That was the result of letting her desires run loose.

So it was a relief that there was someone holding her leash, keeping her tamed, enclosed and away from the world, wasn’t it? There was no harm she could do from inside that cave, no evil to run astray as long Ulf held her down. Ivy pinched her nipples and moved her hips under the drops so they fell on the right spot.

She hauled the jug back. The heavy lifting job took a long time. As she reached the fire room, breathing hard and tired, she lay down on the bed, complaining with unhappy sounds. She kept her legs open so the pinch in her clit felt less agonizing.

Being his wasn’t like anything she had lived through. It wasn’t like the zeal of a clumsy teenager who had to run and hide after each date, and it wasn’t like the poetic care of the husband she had dreamed of marrying. He was demanding but had no hurry. He nurtured her desires until he had a very good reason to spank them out of her, and when she was shattered he’d come and use her body to squeeze out the very last drop of her soul she’d managed to hold onto. Then when Ivy was on the verge of despair, empty and faithless, he would hold her and keep her close until she felt a little bit more like herself.

Once and time again, thrice a day, every day from there to infinity, he would do that, driving her mad or sane to his own volition. He’d push and pull her around, his passion being this insatiable presence wanting her attention, demanding her holes, her moans, her orgasms. Ulf tidied and put potatoes to roast so they had something to eat soon. He filled the kettle and smoked a pipe for a few minutes, relaxing. Then he came closer, covering her like the shadows themselves were moving on their own to hide the woman from the firelight.

She watched him every waking moment, almost begging for him to come closer and give her attention. Ulf would find her wet no matter when he touched her. It was as if he had unlocked her lust. And yeah, she could pretend it wasn’t so, but after receiving her pain in the morning, she would crave an orgasm to complete her delicious torture.

The Iotun took the clamp off and rubbed her sore clit as the sharp pain shot through the afflicted skin. Ivy grated her teeth, sucking air in anxious breaths. Ulf settled her in the warmth of his body. He had the sweetest glare as he fingered her pussy, slowly. Dripping wet, not from showering, but from need, he whispered to himself in his mind, a need for him, he went on as his index and middle digits pushed all the way in.

Ivy held herself on his arm, bracing for another hour of madness. He forced her legs wide open and pinched her inner thighs and her pussy lips until tears pooled in her eyes, and between each mistreatment, he fucked her slowly, training her to enjoy both pain and pleasure. To find one in the other. Ivy fell into the darkness inside herself, letting her hunger tell her how to act. How to dance against his hips and how to moan to make him hard. She sucked on Ulf’s chest as she bucked her hips, feeling the orgasm grow even as he was giving her purple bruises.

The only thing that broke her torpor was Ulf calling her.

“Ivy, I can’t help it, I need to feel you again.”

His hard-on pushed against her buttcheeks.

He knelt between her legs, taking his already hard cock in his hands. He placed the head in her entrance, enjoying how her pussy lips seemed to kiss the dark purple skin. As Ivy relaxed, he pushed it just a little. When the head of his cock settled inside the rim of her hole, they both sighed, trembling with pleasure. He, because he had squeezed him in and she, because the pressure made her burn.

They looked into each other’s eyes, both of them half-mad with want.

“I love having my vaimo here with me.”

Ulf caressed her clit, watching as she contracted and relaxed, her pussy twitching on the head of his dick.

“And you love this, don’t you? You love having an Iotun master that will rape you every day…”

She was so hot already, and so out of it, she couldn’t speak, so he pinched her nipples until she lifted her eyes back.

“Say it, slut.”

“I…I love having an Iotun master…”

“That will rape you every day. Say the full phrase.”

“I love having a Iotun master that will rape me every day.”She said between sighs.

He held her waist tight, enclosing as much of her as he managed in his titanic hands. This time he didn’t let her settle, he just pulled her in one smooth thug to take his dick inside, deep and hard. Her loud moan echoed down the corridor to the cave depths.

“You deserve being here, taken by me. Only a true slut gets this sort of treatment.”

Ulf couldn’t stop staring at the place where their bodies met, at her skin stretched thin around his dick.

“Fuck, you are so hot, Ivy. So perfect. You are my perfect slut.”

He stayed there, still, with her impaled on his cock, enjoying her deep breaths and the small movements and twitches of her body. That moment seemed to stretch forever. Then Ulf held onto the wooden ladle that had been converted into their paddle, a wicked smiling drawing on his face. He took one hard slap to her thigh and moved his hips only once. Then another, followed by one more trust.

He began to hit her thighs over and around her already purple spots, making all the white redden in a second. Each hit made her scream and squeeze him inside of her, and was rewarded by one full trust that rocked her body back and forth. He hit her for minutes on end and when she seemed to grow used to it, he hit her breasts with soft slaps just to scare her.

That finally made her cry. He waited, threatening another hit. She had yet to beg him to stop. He wondered if he could hit her hard enough to finally make the survival instinct kick in. Ivy was already out of her body, lost in the feelings. He was giving her too much at once, and he knew. It wasn’t good for them that she allowed him so much. He could lose himself in his power as much as she lost herself in pleasure.

Ulf had her enraptured in the lie that he would make her suffer. In truth, all he ever planned to do was to give her more and more intoxicating pleasure until she gave up on the idea that she couldn’t enjoy it. But the pain was the necessary charade, the shortcut he had to take to enjoy her body, one that was becoming a trap even for himself. He had to admit that he was quite the sadist, and he loved her screams, loved that she was falling in despair as well as in love. He would train her to come on pain alone one day.

He loved that she was his to break if he wanted to. There was this twisted part of him that felt warm and powerful to know that he was the one that would train her, groom her, coax the hunger to the surface, and the one that would get to enjoy the fruits.

That could be bad. They were miles away from anyone that could put some sense in his head. Ulf sat down, his back to the fire, and held Ivy in his lap, overwhelmed with the love he felt for her, and the fear it brought out of him.

“Brave Ivy…So strong.”

Ivy cried for a little while, nurtured by his hug. But when he expected her to crawl away to stop their play, she bent forward in his thighs and showed him her ass up in the air, the bruised skin of her legs, offering her holes to him. She was a slut that deserved all the insane overwhelming sex she needed, and Ulf was going to give it to her. Had she been born in his clan, Iotunar from all over the realm would make offers to her mother to have her as their vankivaimo. One so cock-hungry was a treasure to own.

His gray fingers went in again, spreading her. She trembled as he opened her wide. There was so much he wanted to do. Time was on their side. He could choose.

Ulf held her by her braids, pulling her up. When she screamed, he laughed, maneuvering her like a ragdoll. And like that, with no effort, he lifted her up, and ever so slowly, made her go low on his cock. This time, gravity alone made his dick go in deep, all the way till the point was pushing her insides.

Ivy couldn’t stop moaning now. She felt like a toy being used. All her body burned, from pain, from heat, from pressure, from want. His mouth rested against her ear, and he murmured as he found himself in a moment of prayer like she did every morning and night.

“Beg me to give you release, slut. Beg me. Beg me to fuck you raw. It will make me so happy, little vaimo. So happy to rape my vaimo and make her pay for being so bad. Sluts know how to beg, don’t they? Show me you can beg nice and pretty to be fucked by a Iotun dick.”

She was too ashamed and dizzy to find words. Ulf started to pinch her thighs until the pain was strong enough to overpower the pleasure of having his dick inside. Each time he pressed, he commanded, and each time he released, her entire body relaxed in a shiver of agony. Her pussy squeezed his cock. Ulf could swear she was trying to make him come on her contractions alone.

“I’ll not move until you ask me like a slut to fuck you, Ivy. I can be here for hours until I run out of skin to give you red marks. Beg me. Beg me. Say ‘fuck me, Ulf.’”

Ivy was already crying again after the third mean squeeze. She just sobbed her answer with struggle.

“Fuck me, Ulf…Fuck me, please.”

“I’ll give it to you, Ivy. I’ll give you everything you need.”

He bent back and let her rest against his stomach. Then he held her behind her knees, lifting her legs, bending the soft body in half. He lifted her once more and let her go down, watching her struggle with his size, with the position that didn’t allow her much besides wiggle around. And he hugged her close to his chest, letting her be cradled in the curve of his body. Up and down, long and deep, until his dick almost came out, until he felt the ring of flesh around the base of his head, and then deep all the way, pushing all her sensitive spots.

“Pretty vaimo. Perfect slut. Keep begging.”

“Take me…Fuck me…”

Her pussy was pure bliss, tight and warm, squeezing him deliciously when she was about to come.

She found release before he even had to touch her clit. Her entire body tensed up then soothed in his hold, exhausted and defeated, satisfied with the rough fucking. Still, he held her tight and moved his hips until he came inside of her.

His cum always dripped out halfway through her orgasm. Ivy looked down, only half awake by then, and watched the white drops flowing from her, down his dick and his balls.

When everything was quiet again, Ulf filled the kettle and placed it in the fire. He sat down, pleasantly tired. Ivy was exhausted, laying down. Ulf cut the warm potatoes open, squished the cooked soft interior, seasoned with oil and spices, poured sauce, and took it to her. She managed to get up on her elbows to receive it. He fed her from his own spoon and she slowly chewed each bite.

Ulf caressed her head. Ivy leaned in on his hand. They ate in silence, and then cuddled to sleep.

Later, when she woke up in the middle of the night, she crawled and felt around until she reached the teapot. She poured herself some tea and drank. There was no rope around her this time. Her naked torso was free. All she did was drink and come back to bed.

She had nowhere to go and no desire to leave. She was where she belonged.